Al-Hayat quoted Yemeni official sources in the capital, Sanaa, as expecting the United States to launch a missile strike against bin Laden followers in Afghanistan.
The sources said U.S. intelligence services sent more than 1,000 of its members to Yemen for "security operations related to…U.S. interests" in the Arab country and "monitor movements of extremist elements linked to bin Laden."
The newspaper quoted Yemeni officials as referring to U.S. "security loopholes that could have been avoided before the suicide attack" against the USS Cole in the port of Aden. Seventeen U.S. sailors died, and 39 were injured.
The officials said the U.S. warships that used to enter the Yemeni waters were guarded by boats under the supervision of the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa. They noted that protection for the USS Cole was not secured when it entered the Yemeni waters similarly to the other warships visiting the Aden port "the fact that made officials at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa and U.S. Marines face strong embarrassment."
"This matter was discussed with the U.S. side, which could not find any justification for it," one official said. "And this explains the FBI investigation of the destroyer's crew and commander for the warship entered the Aden port without proper security precautions."
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