Washington: the Fire in the French oil tanker off Yemeni coast is an accident
Yemen-USA, Local, 10/8/2002

Reports more likely explained the explosion in the French oil tanker Liburg off the Yemeni coasts on Sunday as a result of an accident, especially after American sources confirmed the Yemeni view point which ruled out a "terrorist action," despite the fact that the Yemeni authorities remain cautious until the end of the investigations.

The French foreign minister said in a statement to the ATL radio "we do not rule out any hypothesis. The investigators will exactly define what had happened," noting that threats is overwhelming all world countries following September 11 attacks.

The spokesman for the French foreign ministry Francois Revaso said that a team of investigators which had left for Sanaa includes persons from the "office of investigations and incidents in the sea," belongs to the ministry of transport and employees from the ministry of the interior as well as another staff member from the "documentation, researches and test centers on accidental pollution of waters," and representatives for the owner of tanker ( a Belgian group.) Meantime, a Yemeni navigation official said that the fire was not under control yet.

Yemen, on the other hand, started preparations to fight pollution on its eastern coasts where black spots of an area of 20 square kilometers of leaked oil started to surface from the oil tanker.

Previous Stories:
  Yemenis interrogated in New York   (9/17/2002)
  US embassy in Sanaa resumes activities following 6 day closure   (4/30/2002)
  Yemen: threats keep US embassy closed till Monday   (4/27/2002)

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