In September 2004 , a judge in Yemen imposed death sentences on Mr. Badawi , then 35 , and a Saudi-born bin Laden associate , Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri , for their roles in the deaths of the sailors on board the Cole , for planning and organizing the attack , in which two men steered a dinghy laden with explosives alongside the Cole as it was refueling in the southern Yemeni port of Aden and then detonated it , killing the sailors and opening a gaping hole in its hull .