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UN Team Starts Investigation into Iranian Weapons Seized in Yemen
[Yemen Post] A UN team started on Sunday an investigation into the Iranian arms cargo which was seized by the Yemeni authorities last month.

The team arrived in Aden early today and has so far inspected the Iranian weapons that included anti-aircraft missiles, very dangerous explosives and other equipment, which the authorities have recently said had been sent to the Shiite Houthi Group, the state Saba agency reported.

"We came here to help the Yemeni authorities to investigate the weapons sent by Iran in an effort to collect information about the cargo and report that to the Security Council which should decide on measures then," the agency quoted chief of the team as saying. "We will also investigate the crew of the ship onboard which the weapons were seized," the chief expert added according to the agency.

The cargo was seized on the ship Jihan 1 on January 23rd as part of several arms seizures in Yemen in recent months including thousands of Turkish-made pistols and equipment.

The visit of the team came after the Yemeni government officially asked the Security Council's Iran Sanctions Committee to help investigate the arms cargo at a time when Yemeni is accusing Iran of meddling in its own affairs through providing weapons and financial support to the Shiite Houthi Groups and some secessionist factions in the south.

Iran has denied the accusations and lately senior Yemeni officials said their country has rejected an Iranian request to help on the investigation.

Observers said Yemen has been a transit hub for smuggling weapons into many conflict areas in the world and that such arms cargoes are threatening the West-backed power-transfer deal and the country's stability.


Posted by: Fred 2013-02-26
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=363058