Yemen 'charges' USS Cole suspects

The Cole taken home on a floating dry dock

Reports from Yemen say six people have been charged with complicity in the suicide bomb attack on the American destroyer USS Cole, which killed 17 seamen as the ship lay at anchor in Aden harbour.

There has been no official statement, but the reports quote official sources as saying the six - who are all from the Yemeni city of Lahij - are likely to appear in court next month.

Yemeni authorities have detained a number of people since the 12 October attack in the southern port city, which almost sunk the destroyer.

One report says the six suspects all fought as mujahedeen in Afghanistan.

Two are accused of involvement in organising the attack, while the others are described as junior employees in the Lahij civil records office who are accused of having abetted the perpetrators and helped them obtain forged identity cards.

Washington says it believes the attack was instigated by, among others, the Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden, who now lives in Afghanistan, under the protection of the Taleban Government.