MISSILE BEHIND 'OFF-COMOROS CRASH'

SANA'A, Oct. 24 (Saba) - Investigations into the Yemenia Airliner,
which plunged into the Indian Ocean in late June, have revealed that
a rocket was behind the crash, the Almotamar website said Saturday.

Citing well-informed sources the website reported that aviation
experts and investigations into the flight data recorders confirmed
that a rocket fired by one of the French naval ships in the region
caused the disaster in which more 152 passengers and crew members
were killed.

Under these crucial outcomes, Yemen intends to ask France to
compensate the Yemenia Airways Company and the families of the
victims.

After the tragedy, which took place off the Comoros Islands, reports
quoted Comorian officials as accusing the French Naval Ships of
attacking the airplane while conducting a military exercise in the
region.

A Comorian official then said that France's envoy to Comoros had
told them French warships that belonged to the French Fleet were
found in the crash site a day before the crash.

A missile might hit the airbus A300, the French diplomat was quoted
as saying then.

On June 30, the airplane plunged into the Indian Ocean killing all
who were onboard except a French teenager.

The flight data recorders were retrieved by a U.S. ship equipped
with an underwater robot on August 30, more than a month after the
fall and taken for the Paris-based investigator panel.

The panel included Yemeni, French and Comorian interrogators.

The Yemenia Airways compensated the angry families of the victims,
about € 20.000 each.

FR