Reuters Thursday, October 10, 2002; 1:07 PM

MUKALLA, Yemen (Reuters) - A French inspector said after examining the tanker holed and gutted by an explosion off Yemen said on Thursday debris from what could be an attacking boat had been found on the ship.

"We found debris of a boat which obviously does not belong to the tanker," Jean-Francois Perrouty told Reuters, noting the debris was made of fiberglass.

He said the French foreign ministry will be issuing a communique about the result of the first day of the investigations on Friday morning into what happened to the French-flagged tanker Limburg on Sunday.

Asked if the debris looked similar to that found on the U.S. warship Cole, attacked by suicide bombers on a small boat in Yemeni waters in October 2000, he said: "possibly yes."

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2002

Answers

U.S. Thinks Ship Blast Near Yemen May Be Terrorism

Thu Oct 10,12:29 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States, like Yemen, was leaning toward the theory that an attack might have caused a blast on a French supertanker in the Gulf of Aden, a State Department official said on Thursday.

"Initially a lot of things pointed to some kind of an accident. Now there are additional indications saying this really does look more like something deliberate and may have been, dare I use the word, terrorism," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"I don't think anyone can say anything definitive but it's leaning more in that direction," he added.

Earlier on Thursday the Yemeni government, which is trying to shake off a reputation as a haven for Islamic militants, for the first time cast doubt on the theory that the explosion Sunday was the result of a fire.

U.S. officials drew no conclusions officially about the cause of the blast, being investigated by French and U.S. experts.

But officials had said on condition of anonymity that the blast appeared to be accidental because the explosion appeared to have blown outwards and consequently probably originated from on board the ship.

The explosion recalled a suicide bombing in Oct. 2000 of the U.S. destroyer Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden.

Since then the United States and Yemen have stepped up cooperation on security issues and counterterrorism efforts.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2002