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| Europe | |
| Sudan link to Greek mystery ship | |
| 2003-06-23 | |
| EFL: An explosives-laden ship seized off Greece had documents linking it to a non-existent firm based in Sudan, say officials. The Baltic Sky was carrying 680 tons of explosives when it was stormed by special forces off Greece's western coast on Sunday. Greek Shipping Minister George Anomeritis says the ship's manifest showed that cargo was officially bound for a company with "a post office box in Khartoum that did not exist". However, the ship's location suggested it was not heading towards Khartoum. It had apparently been sailing around the Mediterranean for six weeks before being impounded. It had loaded 450 pallets of TNT and 8,000 detonators in Gabes, Tunisia on 12 May, Mr Anomeritis said. The vessel was later seen near Istanbul on 22 May and in the Aegean Sea on 2 June. It was boarded in the Ionian Sea on Sunday. That's a long way from the Sudan. Mr Anomeritis said the ship was carrying TNT, but documents from the ship described the cargo as ANFO, a commercially-manufactured ammonia nitrate-based explosive usually used in mining. "No-one knows the recipient, so no-one knows how it would be used," said Mr Anomeritis. We can guess. The crew of seven were due to be questioned by a public prosecutor later on Monday, Mr Anomeritis said. He said possible terrorist links would be investigated. The boat was raided after a tip-off that it was carrying a suspicious cargo. The vessel is owned by a company registered in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, but is registered in the Comoros Islands, which is regarded as a provider of flags of convenience, the merchant marine ministry announced. "It looks certainly like a suspect ship," government spokesman Telemachos Hytiris said. "This is a huge amount of explosives and a great success for Greek authorities." The BBC's Panos Polyzoidis in Greece says the shipment of explosives is so large that it may have been intended for a government rather than an organisation. Maybe a government sponsored organization. Should be able to trace the explosives and detonators from the manufacturers to whoever purchased them.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 From BBC: Sudan firm claims ship explosives |
| Posted by: Pink & Fluffy 6/23/03 8:15:00 PM |
| #1 congrats Greece. NOT congrats EU. Congrats Greece. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 6/23/03 9:35:07 AM |