U.S. wants to resume ship visits to Yemen

WASHINGTON Ñ The United States wants to resume port calls by its naval vessels to Yemen.

U.S. officials said the Pentagon has approached the government in Sanaa for the resumption of naval visits. The visits by U.S. warships ended last October in wake of the bombing of the USS Cole. Seventeen U.S. sailors were killed in the attack attributed to Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden.

But plans to resume the visits of U.S. warships have been held up by disagreements between Sanaa and Washington over the USS Cole investigation. U.S. officials said Yemen has denied FBI access to key suspects in the investigation.

Assistant Defense Secretary Peter Rodman said the Pentagon wants to renew the U.S. defense relationship with Sanaa. Rodman said he did not envision any imminent developments.

"I presume that it's possible for us to do that in ways that protect the safety of our ships," Rodman said. "I would like to see this relationship repaired in some way, because I think it would serve an American interest."

U.S. officials said the Pentagon has had a decade-long relationship with Sanaa. Military relations expanded significantly in 1999 and at one point the United States and Yemen discussed the prospect of joint exercises and military training.