Violence, death proliferate throughout Middle East
■ some officials suspect
terrorism regarding a recent
explosion of a U.S. Navy ship
in the Middle East
By Pauline Jelinek
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials
defended the Navy’s decision to re
fuel ships in Yemen, where a sus
pected terrorist blast killed 17
sailors, and promised Sunday to
catch and punish those responsible
no matter how long it takes.
“We will track them down. We
owe that to the families,” Secretary
of Defense William Cohen said.
Secretary of State Madeleine Al
bright also promised results and
added: “We have made very clear
that whoever is involved in these
things, that there’s no statute of limi
tations and that we will pursue them.
And there will be accountability. ”
Speaking Sunday of the dangers
inherent in using such ports as
Aden, where an explosion outside
the USS Cole blew a 40 foot-by-40
foot hole in the ship’s hull Thurs
day, President Clinton’s national
security adviser said limited fuel
ing options in the Persian Gulf area
require such stops despite the ter
rorism risk.
“This entire area is a high-threat
area,” Sandy Berger said on NBC’s
“Meet the Press.”
But Berger noted that 25 ships
have refueled in the Arabian Penin
sula port without incident in the
past 18 months.
“Obviously we have to find out
what if anything happened in this
particular case,” Berger said.
Later Sunday evening, 33 injured
sailors from the Cole arrived at the
ship’s home port of Norfolk, Va. to
cheers ol awaiting family members
and fellow sailors. Some of the in
jured needed canes or crutches to
disembark the plane that returned
them home, while at least four oth
ers were carried off on stretchers.
U.S. officials believe their ship
was the target of a suicide attack
from a small vessel packed with
powerful explosives. If terrorism is
proved, it would be the deadliest at
tack on the U.S. military since the
bombing of an Air Force barracks in
Saudi Arabia in 1996 that killed 19.
Cohen said on CBS’ “Face the
Nation” that the explosion was
“clearly an act of terrorism” but
agreed that such risks are inevitable
when the U.S. military deploys to
the Middle East and many other
parts of the world.
We understand it’s a
high-threat area. There
are risks involved. We try
to minimize those risks.
William Cohen
Secretary of Defense ^
“We understand it’s a high-threat
area. There are risks involved,”
said Cohen. “We try to minimize
those risks.
“But certainly we can’t prevent
all types of acts of terrorism,” he
said. The Pentagon will determine
through a thorough investigation,
however, “whether there was any
laxity, any failure to measure up to
the very highest standards that we
insist upon for force protection. ”
Secretary of State Albright said
on ABC’s “This Week” that the U.S.
investigation, involving the FBI
and other agencies, is moving well,
and the United States is “getting a
lot of people in there” to partici
pate.
No credible organization has
claimed the attack, but names men
tioned have included Saudi-born
fugitive Osama bin Laden. The
United States accuses bin Laden of
organizing a network with follow
ers across the Middle East, includ
ing Yemen, and says he master
minded the 1998 bombings of two
U.S. embassies in east Africa that
killed 224 people including 12
Americans.
The Pentagon said last week it is
investigating whether future ships
will continue to refuel in the area
and reviewing whether security
policies need to be changed. The
U.S. ambassador to Yemen, Barbara
Bodine, told reporters Sunday that
no Navy ships are scheduled for
Aden port calls at present.
Aden’s deep-water port has been
used as a refueling point for U.S.
warships for about two years. Dis
cussions also had been started on a
possible permanent U.S. facility
around Aden, near the southwest
ern tip of the Arabian Peninsula
and the southern end of the Red
Sea.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said
many ports in the Middle East are
dangerous and the decision on
which port to use “is properly left”
to military commanders in the re
gion.
“I don’t think this is the time to
be second-guessing our uniformed
military,” Levin, a member of the
Senate Armed Services Committee,
said on CNN’s “Late Edition. ”
“You and I know it’s always easy
to go back on Monday morning and
figure out what happened in Sun
day’s football game,” agreed the
committee chairman, Sen. John
Warner, R-Va.
Conflict continues as Israeli,
Palestinian leaders convene
H As Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat head into a peace summit,
many Palestinians and Israelis are frustrated and pessimistic
JERUSALEM — After more than
two weeks of clashes, many Israelis
and Palestinians agreed Sunday on
a pessimistic forecast: a peace sum
mit in Egypt won’t solve any major
problems or relieve the current
state of bitterness.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
head into today’s summit at Sharm
el-Sheik. Egypt, as reluctant partici
pants with low expectations.
Each leader has constituents
who advised them not to go. Pales
tinian gunmen fired automatic ri
fles into the air outside Arafat’s of
fice Sunday night to express their
opposition. Arafat came to the front
gate of the compound to explain his
decision to the crowd of about 200.
“We are going to Sharm el-Sheik,
but taking with us the condition of
the Palestinian people,” Arafat
said. “We are on the way to
Jerusalem until a Palestinian child
i raises the Palestinian flag on the
walls of Jerusalem.”
The crowd cheered, chanting,
“With our blood, and with our
soul, we will defend you.”
In Jerusalem, Barak spoke with
President Clinton shortly before the
president departed for the summit.
“The two leaders agreed there would
be no preconditions for the talks and
that each side would present its po
sitions during the meeting,” Barak’s
office said in a statement.
Frustrated Palestinians believe
Arafat will face intense pressure to
sign an unfavorable agreement at the
summit, which will include leaders
from the United States, Egypt, Jor
dan and the United Nations.
“Arafat shouldn’t go because
Barak will not give anything to us, ”
said Annan Amr, 19, a Palestinian
student. “We are here to get our
rights by fighting because this is
the language Israel knows.”
Most Israelis were also downbeat,
questioning whether the Palestin
ian leadership was sincere about
ending the worst violence since the
two sides began peace talks in 1993.
“I think Arafat doesn’t want an
agreement,” said Niv Cohen, 22, a
Jew who recently completed his
army service. Arafat’s “target is to
keep the area.violent.”
Two Israeli soldiers were lightly
wounded by gunfire Sunday at the
Jordanian border, according to of
ficials in both countries. There was
no word on who fired at the Is
raelis, who were outside the West
Bank town of Jericho. Also, one
Palestinian died of wounds suf
fered Wednesday. But no major
battles were reported as violence
continued to abate.
The summit’s aim is relatively
modest, though by no means as
sured. The parties will try to
arrange a cease-fire, ending fight
ing that has claimed nearly 100
lives, most of them Palestinian,
since erupting 18 days ago.
The Associated Press
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BADLY Drawn Boy —The Hour of Bewilderbeast, Beggars Banquet, by Steve Lichtenstein
It s a crime that Badly Drawn Boy's debut LP won Britain's prestigious Mercury Prize last month - they should've given him
two. The Hour of Bewilderbeast (bizarre title aside) is a blisteringly fine example of mature, well-crafted modern pop, toeing
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