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CNN Sunday Morning

French Tanker Explodes Off Coast of Yemen

Aired October 06, 2002 - 07:04   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get more now on our top story, a French oil tanker still burning off the coast of Yemen, after an explosion. French officials are calling it a terrorist attack. CNN's Jim Bittermann joining us on the line from Paris with the latest from there. Hello, Jim.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. I should say that this is the part of the world where there aren't a lot of either reporters or diplomats, which may account for some of the confusion over this explosion this morning. A French oil tanker that was pulling into port to the northeast of (UNINTELLIGIBLE), normally one of the big ports in Yemen, and also the place where the USS Cole was attacked two years ago -- the tanker was pulling into port, exploded, and according to a diplomat that CNN contacted, it was approached by a small boat which blew up in advance. If that's the case and it turns out to be what exactly happened, it's all very similar to what happened to the USS Cole back in 2000 when 17 American sailors were killed.

This oil tanker, the Limbergh (ph), was laden with 400,000 barrels of oil, and it apparently is still burning. There is also some confusing about exactly what's happened to the crew. There were 25 men on board. Some stories had it that some of the crew went overboard and were picked up, and 11 crewmen stayed on board and were fighting the fire.

However, one of the news agencies is now reporting that 12 of the crewmen are wounded and 13 are unaccounted for. So it's unclear at this moment exactly what's happening out there, but there was an explosion on board a tanker with 400,000 barrels of oil coming into port, and that explosion has caused a fire that is still being fought at this hour -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jim, we're underscoring for viewers, obviously this is pretty fresh information, pretty sketchy information, and at this point we're king of -- well, we're a bit third-hand on it, perhaps, but let's just -- French media completely discounted the possibility which the Yemenis have contended that it was an accident during a refueling exercise of some kind?

BITTERMANN: Yes, the French were very quick to report this as an attack, a terrorist attack, and CNN was able to confirm with a diplomat in the ground in San'a, the capital of Yemen, that in fact this was a terrorist attack.

Having said that, the Yemeni government says that it was not a terrorist attack, that it was an accident, and the ship blew up. So it's at this stage a little bit too early to tell, and like I say, this is a part of the world where there just aren't a lot of people on the ground who could give you a good, hard and fast idea of what exactly is going on, which accounts for that confusion over the crew as well.

The ship -- it is known that it was coming from Iran. It was not fully loaded, at 400,000 barrels of crude oil on board, and it was pulling into Yemen to take on more oil before sailing onward. So there are some facts known. It's on fire, and apparently still afloat, and they're trying to put the fire out at this hour.

But beyond that, whether this was really a terrorist attack or not -- at least one French diplomat told Reuters that, in fact, it's too early to say, so we've got some conflicting viewpoints coming even from the French diplomatic service.

O'BRIEN: All right, and one final point to bring up for people: There might be some motivation for the Yemeni officials to summarily deny a terrorist attack, right?

BITTERMANN: Well, absolutely, yeah. Yemen for two years now, since the USS Cole, perhaps even before, has been trying to get through this accusation that it is a hotbed for terrorism, a seabed for terrorism. The Yemeni government has picked up 100 alleged members of al Qaeda, it has been cooperating with the FBI, particularly since that attack on the USS Cole. A number of Yemenis who were picked in Afghanistan were known to be members of al Qaeda, so there are a lot of suspicion and links, but the government has been trying very hard to get beyond this due to at least make it appear that they are cracking down on terrorism. If this turns out to be a terrorist event, it will be a real setback in that effort.

O'BRIEN: Once again, Jim, it's very early and we might be getting too far ahead of this story, but here I go: Is it unusual and are the French perhaps a bit surprised that they have become the target, potentially, of terrorism?

BITTERMANN: Well, not really. The fact is that the French were attacked a few months ago in Karachi, as some French shipyard workers were attacked in Karachi, Pakistan. And they have been, you know, with the United States in Afghanistan. They have been with the United States during the Gulf War, and at various times since the Gulf War, in terms of fighting Iraq, so there are some reasons that they would be targeted, and like I said, they were targeted by terrorists -- I believe it was 11 people who were killed, shipyard workers who were killed in Karachi back about six months ago.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jim Bittermann, watching things for us in Paris. We appreciate your insights from there, and we'll be staying on top of this story for all fronts -- Rudi.

RUDI BAKHTIAR, CNN ANCHOR: Miles, we'll talk more about the French tanker explosion off the coast of Yemen. Joining me now on the phone is Walid Al-Suqqaf, the editor-in-chief of the "Yemen Times." Walid. WALID AL-SUQQAF, YEMEN TIMES, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Yes.

BAKHTIAR: Mr. Suqqaf, what can you tell us?

AL-SUQQAF: Well, the conflict in the ports are going on until this very moment. We still have sketchy information that we got in the first place. Increasingly, there is an alertness among the public and the authorities here that it may eventually be something of a terrorist attack, but it's still not 100 percent -- no one can confirm this 100 percent, but we are still working on the story. We have received the feedback from a number of sources, including a source from the company of -- that the ship belongs to, and who requested not to reveal his name and his company's name, but he said that the ship had been -- has started -- the flames have started emerging five miles away from the coast.

So perhaps there is some reason for thinking that it was a terrorist attack is also -- I mean, available (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BAKHTIAR: We're hearing reports that the fire broke out during a refueling process. Are you saying that your reports conflict with that?

AL-SUQQAF: Well, we are also given reports that it was a refueling process, but later on, we've received official report saying that it happened, actually, in a time it was almost five kilometers away from the part where it's supposed to be, for whether loading more oil or doing whatever process. So it is indeed some thing that requires rethinking about -- it may not be true that the refueling process triggered these explosions. So it's still very initial -- I mean, step in knowing what exactly has happened, and we're working on it.

BAKHTIAR: Can you tell us where the ship was coming from, where it was going?

AL-SUQQAF: Well, according to associates here, it says it was coming from an Iranian island, and it was actually coming for adding more oil to its capacity, that it was holding 397,000 barrels of oil. So the issue is going on right now. People are anxious to know more about this. The authorities are keeping a bit low-profile, and we are working on it.

BAKHTIAR: OK, thank you, Walid Al-Suqqaf, the editor-in-chief of "The Yemen Times," reporting to us from San'a, Yemen.

O'BRIEN: All right, let's try and sort some of this out, and check in with our security analyst, Kelly McCann. Kelly, good to have you with us, first of all.

KELLY MCCANN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Of course, the first thing we think about is the USS Cole, and this is awfully early, there is a little bit of conflicting information as to whether this is or is not a terrorist attack, but a parallel is there, isn't it? MCCANN: Yeah, there are a couple of interesting things and then a couple of disassociated things. One, of course, that we've seen this kind of attack before, but there is some conflicting information from a military standpoint, our tactic standpoint. Five miles out is really before the point where you'd have pilot vehicles and hubs starting to meet this vessel, which would be used for the cover of the explosive device. So it would appear to be a single boat would be coming toward a ship. In military terms, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) search and seizure operations in repelling that kind of attack.

Of course, a tanker has no ability to repel, so it might have been an incident where there was a boat coming out alone, toward this oil vessel, and you know, wouldn't have been determined to be (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Strange incident.

O'BRIEN: Well, I suppose you could make a case that at five miles out perhaps the folks on the bridge were less on guard for the approach of small boats. It wouldn't necessarily have a radar out there or anything like that to look for those kinds of things. Might have caught them unaware.

MCCANN: True enough, but then, you know, try and consider why they would do that for target value. I mean, if your goal was to environmentally spoil the harbor or the port, you're really not doing that five miles out, so it takes away from, you know, what potential value there could be, so it's an interesting situation.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about just that part of the world, and reacquaint us. We've talked a lot about Yemen when we were focused very much on Osama bin Laden, his roots to Yemen, and the fact that terrorism certainly is no stranger to that particular country. Give us a little of a back story here.

MCCANN: Not at all. In fact, it's been very much -- pretty much confirmed that, in fact, Yemen has been used as a jump-off point by al Qaeda to Somalia and other places that are sympathetic to them. I'm sure we've got people on the ground in Yemen right now who are working with the Yemeni to, you know, basically ferret out the remaining al Qaeda that could be there. They have been cooperative.

But then there is also the link that you brought up, Miles, where we've seen people of Yemeni descent or directly from Yemen involved in Pakistan, of course in New York, you know, just recently in Buffalo. So it's an interesting network question, I think.

O'BRIEN: Well, and given the fact that it is known to be this activity, this terrorist activity seems to be so common there, is it safe to say there is quite a bit of U.S. forces on the ground there, special operations, covert or otherwise?

MCCANN: I think that's probably reasonable. How many? I think fluctuates based on intelligence. As you know, it's dynamic. So I know we've had differing numbers in different capacities. Some to work with the Yemeni military, some to work with their intelligence assets, in and out as we kind of chase the target, if you will.

O'BRIEN: All right. So why the French?

MCCANN: Exactly. Why the French?

O'BRIEN: I mean, can you speculate on that one?

MCCANN: Their percentage of involvement, of course, with this whole war on terror has been troublesome. They're with us on some aspects, and then on other aspects, they're totally disinterested and sit the fence. So if you looked at a real bang-for-your-buck kind of target, I wouldn't have picked the French.

O'BRIEN: One final thought before we get away. What does your gut tell you on this? Does this sound like terrorism to you, based on the sketchy details we have? A little bit of contradictory information. Yemeni officials denying it. I guess that's probably not much of a surprise.

MCCANN: I'm going to err on the side of safety, Miles, and say, wait.

O'BRIEN: Yeah. All right. Those were good words of advice. We'll be watching it. We'll be waiting. Kelly McCann, on his way in to help us out on this story. We'll see you on TV in just a little bit to talk a little bit more about this. Hopefully, we'll have a few more facts for you then. I appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 6, 2002 - 07:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get more now on our top story, a French oil tanker still burning off the coast of Yemen, after an explosion. French officials are calling it a terrorist attack. CNN's Jim Bittermann joining us on the line from Paris with the latest from there. Hello, Jim.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. I should say that this is the part of the world where there aren't a lot of either reporters or diplomats, which may account for some of the confusion over this explosion this morning. A French oil tanker that was pulling into port to the northeast of (UNINTELLIGIBLE), normally one of the big ports in Yemen, and also the place where the USS Cole was attacked two years ago -- the tanker was pulling into port, exploded, and according to a diplomat that CNN contacted, it was approached by a small boat which blew up in advance. If that's the case and it turns out to be what exactly happened, it's all very similar to what happened to the USS Cole back in 2000 when 17 American sailors were killed.

This oil tanker, the Limbergh (ph), was laden with 400,000 barrels of oil, and it apparently is still burning. There is also some confusing about exactly what's happened to the crew. There were 25 men on board. Some stories had it that some of the crew went overboard and were picked up, and 11 crewmen stayed on board and were fighting the fire.

However, one of the news agencies is now reporting that 12 of the crewmen are wounded and 13 are unaccounted for. So it's unclear at this moment exactly what's happening out there, but there was an explosion on board a tanker with 400,000 barrels of oil coming into port, and that explosion has caused a fire that is still being fought at this hour -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jim, we're underscoring for viewers, obviously this is pretty fresh information, pretty sketchy information, and at this point we're king of -- well, we're a bit third-hand on it, perhaps, but let's just -- French media completely discounted the possibility which the Yemenis have contended that it was an accident during a refueling exercise of some kind?

BITTERMANN: Yes, the French were very quick to report this as an attack, a terrorist attack, and CNN was able to confirm with a diplomat in the ground in San'a, the capital of Yemen, that in fact this was a terrorist attack.

Having said that, the Yemeni government says that it was not a terrorist attack, that it was an accident, and the ship blew up. So it's at this stage a little bit too early to tell, and like I say, this is a part of the world where there just aren't a lot of people on the ground who could give you a good, hard and fast idea of what exactly is going on, which accounts for that confusion over the crew as well.

The ship -- it is known that it was coming from Iran. It was not fully loaded, at 400,000 barrels of crude oil on board, and it was pulling into Yemen to take on more oil before sailing onward. So there are some facts known. It's on fire, and apparently still afloat, and they're trying to put the fire out at this hour.

But beyond that, whether this was really a terrorist attack or not -- at least one French diplomat told Reuters that, in fact, it's too early to say, so we've got some conflicting viewpoints coming even from the French diplomatic service.

O'BRIEN: All right, and one final point to bring up for people: There might be some motivation for the Yemeni officials to summarily deny a terrorist attack, right?

BITTERMANN: Well, absolutely, yeah. Yemen for two years now, since the USS Cole, perhaps even before, has been trying to get through this accusation that it is a hotbed for terrorism, a seabed for terrorism. The Yemeni government has picked up 100 alleged members of al Qaeda, it has been cooperating with the FBI, particularly since that attack on the USS Cole. A number of Yemenis who were picked in Afghanistan were known to be members of al Qaeda, so there are a lot of suspicion and links, but the government has been trying very hard to get beyond this due to at least make it appear that they are cracking down on terrorism. If this turns out to be a terrorist event, it will be a real setback in that effort.

O'BRIEN: Once again, Jim, it's very early and we might be getting too far ahead of this story, but here I go: Is it unusual and are the French perhaps a bit surprised that they have become the target, potentially, of terrorism?

BITTERMANN: Well, not really. The fact is that the French were attacked a few months ago in Karachi, as some French shipyard workers were attacked in Karachi, Pakistan. And they have been, you know, with the United States in Afghanistan. They have been with the United States during the Gulf War, and at various times since the Gulf War, in terms of fighting Iraq, so there are some reasons that they would be targeted, and like I said, they were targeted by terrorists -- I believe it was 11 people who were killed, shipyard workers who were killed in Karachi back about six months ago.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jim Bittermann, watching things for us in Paris. We appreciate your insights from there, and we'll be staying on top of this story for all fronts -- Rudi.

RUDI BAKHTIAR, CNN ANCHOR: Miles, we'll talk more about the French tanker explosion off the coast of Yemen. Joining me now on the phone is Walid Al-Suqqaf, the editor-in-chief of the "Yemen Times." Walid. WALID AL-SUQQAF, YEMEN TIMES, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Yes.

BAKHTIAR: Mr. Suqqaf, what can you tell us?

AL-SUQQAF: Well, the conflict in the ports are going on until this very moment. We still have sketchy information that we got in the first place. Increasingly, there is an alertness among the public and the authorities here that it may eventually be something of a terrorist attack, but it's still not 100 percent -- no one can confirm this 100 percent, but we are still working on the story. We have received the feedback from a number of sources, including a source from the company of -- that the ship belongs to, and who requested not to reveal his name and his company's name, but he said that the ship had been -- has started -- the flames have started emerging five miles away from the coast.

So perhaps there is some reason for thinking that it was a terrorist attack is also -- I mean, available (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BAKHTIAR: We're hearing reports that the fire broke out during a refueling process. Are you saying that your reports conflict with that?

AL-SUQQAF: Well, we are also given reports that it was a refueling process, but later on, we've received official report saying that it happened, actually, in a time it was almost five kilometers away from the part where it's supposed to be, for whether loading more oil or doing whatever process. So it is indeed some thing that requires rethinking about -- it may not be true that the refueling process triggered these explosions. So it's still very initial -- I mean, step in knowing what exactly has happened, and we're working on it.

BAKHTIAR: Can you tell us where the ship was coming from, where it was going?

AL-SUQQAF: Well, according to associates here, it says it was coming from an Iranian island, and it was actually coming for adding more oil to its capacity, that it was holding 397,000 barrels of oil. So the issue is going on right now. People are anxious to know more about this. The authorities are keeping a bit low-profile, and we are working on it.

BAKHTIAR: OK, thank you, Walid Al-Suqqaf, the editor-in-chief of "The Yemen Times," reporting to us from San'a, Yemen.

O'BRIEN: All right, let's try and sort some of this out, and check in with our security analyst, Kelly McCann. Kelly, good to have you with us, first of all.

KELLY MCCANN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Of course, the first thing we think about is the USS Cole, and this is awfully early, there is a little bit of conflicting information as to whether this is or is not a terrorist attack, but a parallel is there, isn't it? MCCANN: Yeah, there are a couple of interesting things and then a couple of disassociated things. One, of course, that we've seen this kind of attack before, but there is some conflicting information from a military standpoint, our tactic standpoint. Five miles out is really before the point where you'd have pilot vehicles and hubs starting to meet this vessel, which would be used for the cover of the explosive device. So it would appear to be a single boat would be coming toward a ship. In military terms, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) search and seizure operations in repelling that kind of attack.

Of course, a tanker has no ability to repel, so it might have been an incident where there was a boat coming out alone, toward this oil vessel, and you know, wouldn't have been determined to be (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Strange incident.

O'BRIEN: Well, I suppose you could make a case that at five miles out perhaps the folks on the bridge were less on guard for the approach of small boats. It wouldn't necessarily have a radar out there or anything like that to look for those kinds of things. Might have caught them unaware.

MCCANN: True enough, but then, you know, try and consider why they would do that for target value. I mean, if your goal was to environmentally spoil the harbor or the port, you're really not doing that five miles out, so it takes away from, you know, what potential value there could be, so it's an interesting situation.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about just that part of the world, and reacquaint us. We've talked a lot about Yemen when we were focused very much on Osama bin Laden, his roots to Yemen, and the fact that terrorism certainly is no stranger to that particular country. Give us a little of a back story here.

MCCANN: Not at all. In fact, it's been very much -- pretty much confirmed that, in fact, Yemen has been used as a jump-off point by al Qaeda to Somalia and other places that are sympathetic to them. I'm sure we've got people on the ground in Yemen right now who are working with the Yemeni to, you know, basically ferret out the remaining al Qaeda that could be there. They have been cooperative.

But then there is also the link that you brought up, Miles, where we've seen people of Yemeni descent or directly from Yemen involved in Pakistan, of course in New York, you know, just recently in Buffalo. So it's an interesting network question, I think.

O'BRIEN: Well, and given the fact that it is known to be this activity, this terrorist activity seems to be so common there, is it safe to say there is quite a bit of U.S. forces on the ground there, special operations, covert or otherwise?

MCCANN: I think that's probably reasonable. How many? I think fluctuates based on intelligence. As you know, it's dynamic. So I know we've had differing numbers in different capacities. Some to work with the Yemeni military, some to work with their intelligence assets, in and out as we kind of chase the target, if you will.

O'BRIEN: All right. So why the French?

MCCANN: Exactly. Why the French?

O'BRIEN: I mean, can you speculate on that one?

MCCANN: Their percentage of involvement, of course, with this whole war on terror has been troublesome. They're with us on some aspects, and then on other aspects, they're totally disinterested and sit the fence. So if you looked at a real bang-for-your-buck kind of target, I wouldn't have picked the French.

O'BRIEN: One final thought before we get away. What does your gut tell you on this? Does this sound like terrorism to you, based on the sketchy details we have? A little bit of contradictory information. Yemeni officials denying it. I guess that's probably not much of a surprise.

MCCANN: I'm going to err on the side of safety, Miles, and say, wait.

O'BRIEN: Yeah. All right. Those were good words of advice. We'll be watching it. We'll be waiting. Kelly McCann, on his way in to help us out on this story. We'll see you on TV in just a little bit to talk a little bit more about this. Hopefully, we'll have a few more facts for you then. I appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com