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USS Cole Bombers Identified as Afghan War Veterans Voice of America, November 21, 2000 The Prime Minister of Yemen says the two men who carried out the suicide bombing of the U.S. destroyer Cole have been identified as veterans of the war to drive Soviet forces out of Afghanistan. Yemen's Prime Minister Abdul-Karim al-Iryani told the Washington Post that one of the suicide bombers was a Yemeni born in the eastern province of Hadramaut. He said there is strong evidence indicating that the second man also was a Yemeni national. The two men managed to steer a small boat load of plastic explosives along side the Cole as it was being refueled in the port of Aden October 12th. The blast killed 17 U.S. sailors. Mr. Al-Iryani said the identity of the first man was established by false identification papers found in one of the houses rented by the men. He said while the name was false the photo was genuine. He said Yemeni investigators had learned a great deal from questioning relatives of the two men. U.S. officials have said the attack bears the hallmarks of followers of accused terrorist Osama bin Laden but that it is too early to make a direct link. The accused Saudi-born millionaire, also a veteran of the Afghan fighting, is the alleged mastermind of the 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in east Africa. Osama Bin Laden also has Yemeni citizenship because his father was born in Yemen's Hadramaut region.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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