Yemen Forms Unit to Investigate Explosion of French Oil Tanker

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, October 07, 2002

Yemen Forms Unit to Investigate Explosion of French Oil Tanker

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Yemeni Prime Minister Abdul Qader Ba- Jammal issued instructions on Sunday to set up an operation unit toinvestigate into the causes of the explosion of the French oil tanker off the eastern coast of Yemen.

He also ordered the relevant authorities to take immediate measures and provide all necessary facilities to put off the fire and contain the ensuing environment pollution, the Yemeni News Agency reported.

The operation unit, headed by Transportation and Maritime Affairs Minister Said Yafhi, also include Oil and Mines Minister Rashid Barbaa and Tourism and Environment Minister Abdul Malik al-Iriyani.

The unit will undertake tasks of reviewing the legal measures with the owners and assurers of the tanker, while making the necessary steps to contain the damage of the incident and minimize the ensuing environment pollution.

The unit is authorized to seek help of technical personnel to define the causes of the explosion and the resulting damage, beforeoffering a report to Ba-Jammal on its findings.

The tanker, which was coming from Iran to the Red Sea port of Mina al-Dabah to load crude, caught fire on Friday morning, three miles away from an oil-exporting platform in the Ashahr district inYemen's eastern province of Hadramaut. It was carrying 397,000 barrels of crude oil.

Some reports said 12 people aboard the tanker sustained burns and another person was missing when a small booby-trapped boat rammed into the tanker.

French officials consider the explosion a terror attack, saying the boat approaching the super tanker "seems to be an attack in thesame style as the USS Cole."

But Yemen officials said they have not yet ob stained evidence for such a conclusion. They initially viewed the explosion as an "accident."

The incident occurred six days ahead of the 2nd anniversary of the bombing attack on the US destroyer by the terrorist Qaeda organization.

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