Charges filed for USS Cole attack

Fahd al-Qusaa and Jamal al-Badawi are among the FBI's most wanted

Charges have been filed against two Yemeni fugitives in connection with the bombing of the destroyer USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden in October 2000.

Jamal al-Badawi and Fahd al-Qusaa - who have been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network - are the first to be indicted over the attack that killed 17 American sailors.

A total of 50 counts of various terror offences have been announced against the men who remain at large after escaping from a prison in Yemen with 10 others last month.

The indictment was returned by a grand jury in New York and unsealed on Thursday.

"Badawi and Qusaa are alleged to be long time al-Qaeda terrorist associates who were trained in the al-Qaeda terrorist camps in Afghanistan in the 1990s," Attorney General John Ashcroft told a news conference.

"As the indictment alleges they were schooled in Osama Bin Laden's hate and vowed to attack and kill Americans wherever and whenever they could, especially American nationals on the Arabian peninsula," Mr Ashcroft said

Allegations

At least 40 people were wounded in the attack in which a small boat carrying up to 500lb (225 kg) of high explosives rammed into the USS Cole as it was refuelling in Aden port.

The indictment alleges that Mr Badawi bought the attack boat in Saudi Arabia and obtained the trailer and truck that was used to tow the boat to Aden harbour.

17 soldiers died in the bomb attack on the USS Cole in Yemen

It said Mr Qusaa facilitated the plot and had prepared to film the attack from an apartment on hills overlooking the harbour.

Mr Badawi and Mr Qusaa are also alleged to have taken part in a plot, begun in mid-1999, to attack US navy ships arriving in Aden for service and refuelling.

Mr Badawi faces a further charge of attempting to attack the USS The Sullivans in January 2000 while the vessel was refuelling in Aden.

If captured and convicted, the two men could face the death penalty.