U.S. ships stop using Suez Canal

By BARRY SCHWEID

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – U.S. Navy ships have stopped using the Suez Canal, the usual route from the eastern United States to the Persian Gulf, out of concern for terrorist threats, senior U.S. defense officials said today.

No U.S. Navy ship has used the 101-mile canal since the USS Cole made its way from the Mediterranean Sea into the Red Sea shortly before it was attacked by terrorists in the Yemeni port of Aden on Oct. 12.

It was unclear how long Navy ships would avoid the Suez. One defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some planned trips through the canal have been scrapped since the Cole bombing, and future scheduled trips will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Col. Brian Hoey, spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, said Monday night that the American government is “working very closely with the Egyptian government to ensure ongoing security arrangements are appropriate” at the canal.

Meantime, President Clinton and the State Department’s top anti-terrorism official are urging Yemen to give U.S. investigators more access to witnesses, suspects and evidence in the Cole bombing investigation.

The intricate process of preparing the Cole for its return voyage to the United States, meanwhile, continued as the heavy-lift ship Blue Marlin worked to secure the Cole onto its main deck. Pentagon officials said the process likely would take a few more days. Once it is ready to go, the Blue Marlin will travel around the southern tip of Africa in order to avoid the Suez Canal, defense officials said.

Clinton said Monday that Yemen had cooperated fully in the preliminary, first phase of the investigation of the Oct. 12 attack that killed 17 American sailors and injured 39.

But, the president said, “there have been difficulties now.” And, Clinton said, “I hope that we can work it out.”

Today, Michael A. Sheehan, coordinator of the State Department counterterrorism office, said that while Yemen had the authority and responsibility to conduct the investigation “we would like to be privy” to more of it.

“Normally,” Sheehan said at a breakfast meeting with reporters, “the United States doesn’t have the right to question witnesses.”

But in some situations U.S. investigators have had direct access to suspects and “we are urging them to cooperate and hope that they will,” he said.

Clinton said Monday there were some “promising leads,” and that prompt action was essential because “the trail can get cold.”

Sheehan declined to provide any information on what investigators may have found out. “It’s not clear what happened,” he said. But, he added: “My guess is that it (the attack) was not state-sponsored.”

“I don’t know who did it,” the State Department official said. “Anyone in the U.S. government who says he knows doesn’t.”

Asked if Osama bin Laden, a Saudi expatriate accused of heading a terrorism network, was behind the attack, Sheehan said “it’s not useful to speculate.”

In Afghanistan, where bin Laden has taken refuge, Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil said Monday: “We don’t expect that America would attack us.

“But,” he said, “we are not afraid of any attack. Being Muslims, we are ready to greet death at any time.”

Sheehan said the United States held Taliban accountable for providing sanctuary for terrorist organizations. If the bin Laden group or any other there is found responsible for bombing the Cole “we are going to make life miserable for them,” Sheehan said.

The United States has demanded that Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban militia hand bin Laden over for trial on terrorism charges in the August 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Those attacks killed 224 people.

Shortly after the embassy attacks, the United States fired dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles at bin Laden’s suspected stronghold in eastern Afghanistan.

Bin Laden has denied involvement in the embassy bombings, and the Taliban say the United States has not substantiated the charges against him.

Copyright ©2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Talk to us

More in Local News

Twin sisters Lyndsay Lamb (left) and Leslie Davis (right), co-hosts of HGTV's Unsellable Houses. (Photo provided)
Meet and greet HGTV’s ‘Unsellable Houses’ twin sister stars in Snohomish on Friday

Lyndsay Lamb and Leslie Davis have made Lamb & Co. a #twinwin home-selling, home-goods brand.

Funko mascots Freddy Funko roll past on a conveyor belt in the Pop! Factory of the company's new flagship store on Aug. 18, 2017.  (Dan Bates / The Herald)
Lawsuit: Funko misled investors about Arizona move

A shareholder claims Funko’s decision to relocate its distribution center from Everett to Arizona was “disastrous.”

Members of South County Fire practice onboarding and offboarding a hovering Huey helicopter during an interagency disaster response training exercise at Arlington Municipal Airport on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, in Arlington, Washington. The crews learned about and practiced safe entry and exit protocols with crew from Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue before begin given a chance to do a live training. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Snohomish, King counties train together for region’s next disaster

Dozens of agencies worked with aviators Tuesday to coordinate a response to a simulated earthquake or tsunami.

Police stand along Linden Street next to orange cones marking pullet casings in a crime scene of a police involved shooting on Friday, May 19, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lake Stevens man identified in Everett manhunt, deadly police shooting

Travis Hammons, 34, was killed by officers following a search for an armed wanted man in a north Everett neighborhood.

Ciscoe Morris, a longtime horticulturist and gardening expert, will speak at Sorticulture. (Photo provided by Sorticulture)
Get your Sorticulture on: Garden festival returns to downtown Everett

It’s a chance to shop, dance, get gardening tips, throw an axe and look through a big kaleidoscope. Admission is free.

Lynnwood
1 stabbed at apartment in Lynnwood

The man, 26, was taken to an Everett hospital with “serious injuries.”

A firefighting helicopter carries a bucket of water from a nearby river to the Bolt Creek Fire on Saturday, Sep. 10, 2022, on U.S. Highway 2 near Index, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Red flag fire warning issued west of Cascades

There are “critical fire weather” conditions due to humidity and wind in the Cascades, according to the National Weather Service.

A house fire damaged two homes around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 6, 2023 in Marysville, Washington. (Photo provided by Marysville Fire District)
Fire burns 2 homes in Marysville, killing 2 dogs

Firefighters responded to a report of a fire north of Lakewood Crossing early Tuesday, finding two houses engulfed in flames.

Snohomish County vital statistics

Marriage licenses, dissolutions and deaths.

Most Read