Details emerge regarding alleged bomber's routine

ADEN, Yemen (AP) - A man sought in the bombing of the USS Cole regularly visited a tiny hilltop apartment with an excellent view of the harbor where the U.S. warship stopped to refuel, security officials said yesterday. A pair of binoculars was found at the apartment.

The bearded and bespectacled man and a colleague also spent a lot of time with local fishermen, questioning them in detail about the comings and goings of ships in the harbor and asking how far fishing boats are allowed to go into its waters.

Those details from witnesses and investigators helped fill in gaps about the men's activities before the Oct. 12 bombing that killed 17 U.S. sailors and injured 39, but investigators appeared no closer to determining their identities.

U.S. officials believe the blast was a suicide attack. Two men were seen standing on a rubber boat seconds before the explosion. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said a 12-year-old boy told investigators a bearded man in glasses gave him change to watch his car near the port on the day of the bombing. The boy, according to Saleh, said the man went to sea in a small boat taken from the roof of his car and did not return.

A senior U.S. official government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said yesterday in Aden that the probe continued to expand. The official said it was too early to reach a conclusion, although it was clear the act was something that had been planned in advance.

Authorities have been searching at least five houses and other locations they believe the attackers used. At least 68 people, including members of the army and police, have been rounded up by Yemeni authorities in connection with the blast.

Yemeni officials said the hilltop apartment in the Tawahi neighborhood was used as a reconnaissance base. Along with the binoculars, they said Islamic publications were found in the apartment in a two-story brown building overlooking the sea.

The lease was in the name of Abdullah Ahmed Khaled al-Musawah, said the officials, who also spoke on condition they not be named. A fake ID card in that name apparently was issued to one of the two men.