Blast ship security lapses

The USS Cole was severly damaged in the attack

The Pentagon has highlighted key US security shortcomings in the Gulf region before the bomb attack on the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen in October.

The revelations come as part of a preliminary report into the attack carried out by two senior retired military officials. Details were leaked to the New York Times newspaper on Tuesday.

An unnamed Pentagon source confirmed that the report had found US security in the Gulf could be tighter, and coordination between embassies and military leaders should be improved.

Seventeen sailors died when the USS Cole was rammed by suicide bombers in a small boat in Aden harbour on 12 October. The ship was severely damaged.

Officials escape blame

The report also warns that despite efforts to tighten security after the bombing of a US military barracks in Saudi Arabia more than four years ago, officers are still not paying enough attention to troop safety.

The bomb attack nearly sank the USS Cole

The report does not blame specific officials for failing to prevent the attack on the Cole. The Pentagon said it was unlikely that the bombing could have been avoided short of not refuelling in Yemen.

But a separate navy review of security has concluded that the ship's captain, Commander Kirk Lippold and crew failed to follow standard security procedures on the morning of the attack.

The Navy has not yet decided whether Commander Lippold or any other crew members should face disciplinary action.

Navy officials have also questioned whether US intelligence could have provided any specific threat warning.

Anti-US sentiment

The attack took place amid growing anti-US sentiment in the Middle East over what Arabs see as American support for Israel in the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The ship will go into dry dock next month

The US believes that exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, whom it accuses of being behind attacks on two US embassies in Africa in 1998, may have been behind the bombing.

He has denied responsibility.

The USS Cole is currently undergoing repairs costing an estimated $170 million after being being transported back to Pascagoula, Mississippi, on the back of a Norwegian heavy-lift ship.