The remains of the last four American sailors retrieved from the USS Cole which was bombed on October 12 in Yemen's port of Aden were to be repatriated on Friday, a US government official said.
"Four caskets will be flown Friday to Dover, Delaware, via Bahrain, on a military transport plane for identification in the United States after a full US Marine honor guard," the official said.
"The investigation is continuing," he said, adding that "our first consideration was the recovery of the bodies, so now the divers and sailors aboard the ship can put more focus on repairs."
The suspected suicide bomb attack on the billion-dollar guided-missile warship as it came in for refueling killed 17 US sailors and left 38 wounded. Washington says it still has no suspects in the attack.
The US official also told reporters that Vice Admiral Charles Moore, commander of the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet, was expected in Aden later Friday on a one-day morale-boosting trip to the Cole.
"The Cole is a US Navy asset and its operation comes under the direct supervision of the vice admiral," he said -- ADEN, Yemen (AFP)
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