美国海军科尔号在也门进行调查

   

    2000年10月17日，华盛顿——美国国防部长威廉·s·科恩(William S. Cohen) 10月16日告诉记者，美国正在调查10月12日恐怖分子在也门亚丁(Aden)袭击科尔号驱逐舰的事件。科尔袭击事件的死亡人数已确认为7名船员死亡，10名船员失踪，据推测已经死亡，另有30多人受伤。海军官员10月16日估计，正在进行的打捞行动将在10月19日之前找到所有遇难者的遗体。科恩是在离开马里兰州安德鲁斯空军基地参加在巴西玛瑙斯举行的第四届美洲年度国防部长会议前不久接受媒体采访的。按计划，他将在巴西停留四天，在智利和阿根廷过夜。他将行程缩短为一天，在玛瑙斯参加10月18日在弗吉尼亚州诺福克为科尔号爆炸遇难者举行的追悼会。科恩说:“军队、司法部、联邦调查局、海军调查人员、海豹突击队等人员大量涌入。”他说，“塔拉瓦号”、“德卢斯号”两栖运输舰和“安克雷奇号”登陆舰已经在也门海岸附近，为已经抵达现场的美国救援人员提供更多的停泊场所。五角大楼官员16日还在也门亚丁部署了护卫舰“霍斯”号、战斗支援舰“卡姆登”号、驱逐舰“唐纳德·库克”号。“我们得到了也门政府的全面合作。大使说，我们要求他们提供的一切现在都满足了。” The United States, he said, expects Yemen to continue to fully cooperate with the FBI and others who are trying to track down the individuals associated with the attack and to investigate any security breeches that may have occurred. Cohen would not discuss security, saying only that U.S. forces take appropriate measures when they are in dangerous areas. "I think I'll just leave it at that until we have more information," he said. No early warnings have emerged, though, the secretary told reporters. "We receive (warnings) every day around the globe," Cohen said. "We try to analyze (them) for their credibility, specificity, or lack of it. All I can tell you today is there was no indication that we had of a specific plan against this ship." He told reporters he had no information on the force of the blast. Several groups claim responsibility for the attack, but no claim has been confirmed, he said. U.S. officials will conclude the inquiry as soon as possible, he added. The Navy announced a contract award Oct. 16 to a Norwegian company for use of its unusual transport, the Blue Marlin, which will haul the Cole piggyback to its home port of Norfolk. The Navy created a USS Cole Web site with that story and extensive links at www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/news/news_stories/cole.html.