Sources familiar with the investigation did not dispute the prime minister's statements. Yemeni and U.S. officials appear to be making progress toward resolving their disagreements over how to proceed with the investigation. U.S. sources agree with the al-Ariani's statement to CNN that an arrangement under discussion calls for FBI agents to be present as Yemeni police question their own citizens. FBI agents would be allowed to write down any follow-up questions and hand them to Yemeni investigators. The official said that in return for allowing the FBI presence during questioning, the Yemeni government was looking for information from the U.S., but the official would not say what was being requested.
Yemeni law forbids the questioning of Yemeni citizens by authorities from other countries.
The FBI faced a similar situation in Saudi Arabia during the investigation of the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing which killed 19 U.S. servicemen, sources said. But they noted Yemen has so far been more flexible than the Saudi authorities were. CNN Senior International Correspondent Walter Rodgers and The Associated Press contributed to this report. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you.