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Probe of Attack on U.S. Destroyer Moves Slowly
U.S. investigators lack the concrete evidence to prove anything despite some clues suggesting that the destroyer USS Cole was bombed by Islamic militants, possibly associated with Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden, the New York Times reported on Monday.
The newspaper quoted U.S. officials as saying that Washington is wary of inflaming political turmoil in the Middle East by making unsubstantiated accusations.
President Bill Clinton has vowed to find and punish those behind the attack in the Yemeni port of Aden on October 12 that killed 17 sailors and wounded 39.
But U.S. investigators said that amassing evidence takes time and that the pace of investigation has been slowed as Yemeni officials refused to let them directly question scores of people detained so far.
In 1998, the Clinton administration launched cruise missiles against a training camp in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, in retaliation for the bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa, which Washington believed was masterminded by bin Laden.
The owner of the pharmaceutical factory, however, later proved that his factory had not manufactured chemical weapons and that it had been hit by mistake.
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