CIA former director George Tenet convinced Yemenite president Ali Abdullah Saleh to work with the CIA. Tenet sent material and 100 Army Special Forces trainers to help Yemen create an antiterrorism unit after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. He also obtained the authorizations to fly Predator drones over Yemen. The CIA killed six al Qaeda operatives, including Abu Ali al-Harithi, suspected mastermind of the 2000 attack on the USS "Cole", with such a drone, sent from the French military base in Djibouti.