Sunday, 6 October, 2002, 09:57 GMT 10:57 UK
Oil tanker explodes off Yemen
The USS Cole attack was blamed on al-Qaeda
A French-owned oil tanker is on fire off the coast of Yemen after an explosion on board.
Yemeni officials say they do not consider the blast an act of sabotage, but a diplomat at the French embassy told the AFP news agency it was believed to be a terrorist attack.
French diplomat Marcel Goncalves
"The oil tanker was rammed by a small boat stuffed with explosives," the French Vice-Consul, Marcel Goncalves, said.
The tanker burst into flame as it headed towards the port of al Dabah on the eastern coast of the country.
Firefighters are said to have already rescued 11 of the 25 crew members.
USS Cole
"It seems to be an attack in the same style as the USS Cole," said the diplomat, referring to the attack on the American warship in which 17 US servicemen were killed.
But Yemeni officials are adamant the incident is nothing like that attack, blamed on al-Qaeda, two years ago in the port of Aden.
The BBC's Heba Salah says the Yemeni Government has been keen to shed its country's image as a safe haven for al-Qaeda militants.
So far, the authorities have arrested more than 100 suspected members of the group and of other Islamic organisations.
Rescue operations
The tanker. which Yemeni officials have reportedly identified as the Limburg, was coming into the port to load up with crude oil when the blaze started.
An oil industry source told Reuters that 397,000 barrels of crude was already on board.
The ship is said to have headed out to sea as firefighters tackled the flames.
Rescue operations are continuing.
Oil tanker explodes off Yemen
The USS Cole attack was blamed on al-Qaeda
A French-owned oil tanker is on fire off the coast of Yemen after an explosion on board.
Yemeni officials say they do not consider the blast an act of sabotage, but a diplomat at the French embassy told the AFP news agency it was believed to be a terrorist attack.
French diplomat Marcel Goncalves
"The oil tanker was rammed by a small boat stuffed with explosives," the French Vice-Consul, Marcel Goncalves, said.
The tanker burst into flame as it headed towards the port of al Dabah on the eastern coast of the country.
Firefighters are said to have already rescued 11 of the 25 crew members.
USS Cole
"It seems to be an attack in the same style as the USS Cole," said the diplomat, referring to the attack on the American warship in which 17 US servicemen were killed.
But Yemeni officials are adamant the incident is nothing like that attack, blamed on al-Qaeda, two years ago in the port of Aden.
The BBC's Heba Salah says the Yemeni Government has been keen to shed its country's image as a safe haven for al-Qaeda militants.
So far, the authorities have arrested more than 100 suspected members of the group and of other Islamic organisations.
Rescue operations
The tanker. which Yemeni officials have reportedly identified as the Limburg, was coming into the port to load up with crude oil when the blaze started.
An oil industry source told Reuters that 397,000 barrels of crude was already on board.
The ship is said to have headed out to sea as firefighters tackled the flames.
Rescue operations are continuing.