Yemen probes tanker blast

YEMEN and France launched a probe yesterday into a blast which gutted a French-flagged tanker in the Gulf of Aden amid speculation by the owners and French diplomats that the vessel was targeted by terrorists.

The Yemeni government has ruled out an assault similar to the October 2000 suicide bombing of the US destroyer USS Cole in Aden port, saying a fire aboard the Limburg supertanker caused Sunday's explosion.

But the owners of the ship, Euronav SA, said terrorists using a boat might have staged a bomb attack as the vessel prepared to be tugged to Mina al-Dabah, near Mukalla in Yemen.