The United States has denied reports that an investigation into the bombing of the American warship, USS Cole, in Yemen last year has stalled because of a lack of Yemeni cooperation.

A State Department spokesman in Washington said both countries were working on plans for the return of FBI agents who were withdrawn from the country in June after what were described as threats to their safety.

A report in the New York Times had said that Yemen was denying the Americans access to prominent people suspected of involvement in the bombing in which 17 American sailors were killed.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service