Peddler on Cole Is Focus of Yemen Inquiry, Report Says

Yemen is seeking details from the United States about the Cole’s voyage before a bomb nearly sank the American destroyer in Aden--particularly relating to a clownish peddler who was permitted to board the ship at the Suez Canal, a weekly newspaper reported.

The unidentified man “behaved like the English comic actor Charlie Chaplin” and was allowed to board the Cole while it was stopped in the canal, according to 26 September, a mouthpiece for the Yemeni armed forces that hit newsstands in Aden late Thursday.

The paper said that the man was an American citizen and that he was selling something, although it was unclear what. It was the first report of an outsider being allowed on the Cole before the explosion, raising further questions about U.S. security procedures.

The Cole was refueling in Aden on its way to the Persian Gulf when it was attacked Oct. 12. Two suicide bombers detonated a small, explosives-laden boat, killing 17 U.S. sailors and injuring 39 others.

Yemen is preparing to try as many as eight suspects in connection with the bombing.

The attack prompted an internal Navy inquiry that focused on whether any Americans should be held responsible for security lapses. That review has been completed but not made public. A separate inquiry seeking to draw lessons from what happened concluded that the U.S. military must take more aggressive precautions against terrorists.

The newspaper said Yemeni authorities want to know details of the peddler’s conversations with sailors and where he was allowed access.

Also Thursday, 26 September quoted Deputy Interior Minister Motahar Rashad Masri as saying three suspects are still being sought, including Mohammed Omar Harazi, whose name has surfaced before. Harazi reportedly issued orders to bomb plotters in Yemen by telephone from the United Arab Emirates.