Claim for tanker attack

Damage to a Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf last month was caused by an explosive-laden dinghy, the Emirati state news agency said yesterday, in the first official confirmation that the incident was an attack. The report came after an obscure al Qaeda-linked group said yesterday one of its suicide bombers had hit the tanker to avenge the plunder of Muslim wealth.

If true, the claim by the little-known Brigades of Abdullah Azzam would mark the first time the terror network has attacked the Japanese.