Who has the interest in the explosion? [Archives:2000/44/Focus]

By: Maroof Hadad
Aden 
Has Yemen got any interest in the American destroyer (USS.Cole) explosion? The answer is simply, No. Yemen has always rejected terrorism of all kinds , always looked at it as a desperate and heinous action, and has invited others to fight it. Yemens policy is based on democracy and respect for human rights. Even the traditional Yemeni attitude towards this issue looks down upto terrorism.
American media havent been fair in covering this affair. Theyve dealt with it in such a way as to provoke the sentiments of people by through interviews with the families of the victims, trying to link Yemen without proof  to this action, despite their knowledge that Yemen has nothing to do with this .American media should  also be more reasonable by taking into consideration the incalculable harm they could do to the Yemeni-American relationships by dealing with this matter in such an irresponsible way.
The other big question that the Americans should ask themselves is, since this destroyer is supplied with high technology which enables it to stop any land, sea or air assault, how can it be attacked without detecting the attacker before hand which apparently had the ability to distort radar detection on the ship?
Obviously, whoever attacked the warship mustve had facilities better than those Yemen has. Those facilities that Yemen has are very well known to authorities concerned in America.
On the other hand, who has the direct interest in  such an action and in endangering the Yemeni- American relationships? The same warship couldve been attacked before when it used to come to the same harbor to get refueled, so why now? 
Yemen is very much concerned to have its free zone in the harbor secured and settled since it is vital for Yemen to attract foreign investments . Any damage in Yemens reputation in this field could affect negatively the Yemeni economy.

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