WASHINGTON (PC) - Three different scenarios have tried to explain an explosion that killed six people in Yemen Sunday, two of whom were accused of being key members of the al-Qaeda network.
Official sources in Yemen had said following the incident that six men, suspected by the Yemeni and US authorities of ties to the al-Qaeda network died when their car blew up near the capital.
Yemeni officials also said that the six, including Ali Harithi, a man allegedly linked to al-Qaeda’s leader Osama bin Laden, died in the explosion which took place as a car they were riding in exploded, nearly 200 kilometers east of the capital Sana’.
Official sources were quoted saying initial reports indicate that the car was full of explosives.
Two days later, Yemeni Authorities insist that the explosion happened from inside the car, due to explosives or a bomb planted there.
The United States which kept silent regarding the possibility of its military’s involvement is now offering a new explanation.
An unnamed US official in Washington told Reuters today that his country’s military was not directly involved, but “as I understand it, it was an agency drone” that conducted the strike.
Remote control “Predator” drones were used in the past, particularly in Afghanistan by the CIA to strike at suspected enemy hideouts, yet it is still unconfirmed whether the same type of unmanned planes were used to kill the Yemeni men.
While the CIA and the Defense Department, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld are yet to comment on the US army’s share of the attack, Rumsfeld said “it would be a very good thing if he (Harithi) were out of business.” He told reporters, “there is no question that there are al-Qaeda in Yemen.”
Harithi, who is accused of being a former bodyguard of al-Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden, is wanted by the Yemeni authorities, along with others, following a request by the FBI. He is accused of direct affiliation to the 2002 bombing of the USS Cole.
Yemeni officials say that Harithi most likely died in the explosion.
A third narration of the Yemen strike however is the one conveyed by eyewitness, and quoted in Arab media, including al-Jazeera. Witnesses say that a military helicopter was chasing the vehicle when it fired two missiles causing an explosion near the capital.
*** Marc Rodrigues Voicemail: 866.206.9067 x4217 SFS: http://qcsfs.tripod.com