San’a, Yemen ? A Yemeni court on Wednesday granted the U.S. government the right to join the prosecution team in the trial of six men accused of plotting the 2000 attack on the American destroyer USS Cole.

The Oct. 12, 2000, attack killed 17 American sailors when two suicide bombers rammed an explosives-laden boat into the Cole as it refueled in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden. The attack was blamed on Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terrorist network.

The court approved a request by the prosecution to allow the legal attache at the U.S. Embassy in San’a to join its team and represent the families of the sailors killed in the attack. The U.S. Embassy refused to comment, citing security reasons.

The six accused have been charged with belonging to al-Qaida, forming an armed gang with the purpose of carrying out crimes against the state, resisting authorities and forging documents.

But the alleged mastermind of the attack, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is one of the six accused, is being tried in absentia. Al-Nashiri is in U.S. custody at an undisclosed place. Yemeni officials have said they have asked the United States to hand him over.

Yemen had long tolerated Muslim extremists. But after the 9-11 attacks, its government cracked down on militant groups and aligned itself with the U.S.-led war on terror. It has received U.S. military aid, such as anti-terror training for its soldiers.