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Clinton talks tough after attack on US destroyer
Following Thursday`s terrorist attack on a US destroyer at Aden port in which 17 personnel were feared killed and 36 injured, President Bill Clinton has ordered US ships to be pulled out of ports in the Middle East.
Following Thursday's terrorist attack on a US destroyer at Aden port in which 17 personnel were feared killed and 36 injured, President Bill Clinton has ordered US ships to be
pulled out of ports in the Middle East.
The bodies of five sailors have been recovered.
After holding a series of meetings with his national security advisors, the President also asked US land forces in the region to be on heightened alert. The country's military forces and embassies in the region have been on alert for some time now. In a statement at the White House, Clinton described the blast as a despicable and cowardly act of terrorism, and said the US was determined to bring the accused to book.
''If their intention was to deter US from our mission of bringing about peace and security in the Middle East, they will fail, utterly,'' he added.
He has also directed the defence department, the FBI and the state department to rush officials to Aden to begin investigations. US Secretary of State Madeline Albright has already spoken to the Yemenese President Ali Abdullah Saleh and sought his cooperation in nabbing the suspects.
However, there were conflicting versions about the explosions, with Saleh asserting that an internal problem in the ship had caused the explosion, not terrorists. The US suspects the hand of suicide bombers, who it says, came in a small boat and rammed the ship from behind.
Bureau Report
After holding a series of meetings with his national security advisors, the President also asked US land forces in the region to be on heightened alert. The country's military forces and embassies in the region have been on alert for some time now. In a statement at the White House, Clinton described the blast as a despicable and cowardly act of terrorism, and said the US was determined to bring the accused to book.
''If their intention was to deter US from our mission of bringing about peace and security in the Middle East, they will fail, utterly,'' he added.
He has also directed the defence department, the FBI and the state department to rush officials to Aden to begin investigations. US Secretary of State Madeline Albright has already spoken to the Yemenese President Ali Abdullah Saleh and sought his cooperation in nabbing the suspects.
However, there were conflicting versions about the explosions, with Saleh asserting that an internal problem in the ship had caused the explosion, not terrorists. The US suspects the hand of suicide bombers, who it says, came in a small boat and rammed the ship from behind.
Bureau Report