Yemeni Officials Said to Have Aided Bombers

The men who bombed the U.S. Navy destroyer Cole got help from Yemeni officials who fought with them in Afghanistan in the 1980s, sources close to the case said Monday as the crippled ship began a five-week trip home.

The Cole was getting a piggyback ride back to the United States aboard a Norwegian ship carrying the 8,600-ton destroyer on its deck. The ships sailed from waters off Yemen on Sunday.

The Cole should reach its home port of Norfolk, Va., by about Dec. 10, said the manager of Oslo-based Offshore Heavy Transport.

The blast that crippled the Cole and killed 17 American sailors came as the ship was refueling in Aden harbor Oct. 12.

Yemeni investigators have been questioning members of Islamic Jihad, a group formed by Arab veterans of the war to push the Soviets out of Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Sources close to the case said the investigation has revealed that officials in Lahej, an Islamic Jihad stronghold, provided the bombers with government cars for use within Aden and between Aden and Lahej, about 20 miles to the north. The bombers knew the officials from their time together fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

The Yemeni officials are believed to be affiliated with Islamic Jihad, according to the sources. They said the officials had met several times with the attackers since March, when preparations for the bombing are believed to have begun.

The sources also offered other new details about the investigation. They said that one month before the blast, the two bombers took their boat for a test ride in the harbor where the Cole was to dock. A fisherman who helped the bombers take the boat to the water is believed to have been an accomplice, the sources said.

In the past two days, Yemeni authorities have arrested four men who live in Aden, the sources said.