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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| 'Vessel carrying Iranian arms seized at sea' |
| 2012-04-14 |
| A German vessel carrying Iranian weapons was stopped in the Mediterranean while en route to Syria, Der Spiegel reported Saturday. The ship, which had been chartered by a Ukrainian shipping company, was delivering weapons to Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has been coping with 11-month-long mass protests against his rule. According to the report, the German government's economic ministry has announce that it will investigate any and all smuggling attempts. This is not the first time a German vessel has been used to smuggle Iranian arms. In March 2011, the Israeli navy seized the Victoria cargo ship as it was sailing off Israel's coast on its way to Egypt while flying a Liberian flag. The ship was carrying 50 tons of weaponry destined for Hamas, including advanced Iranian-made radar-guided anti-ship missiles. The Iranian regime does not confine its weapons smuggling to German vessels. In November 2009, Israel also intercepted the Francop ship, which was sailing near Cyprus on its way to Syria. Flying an Antiguan flag, the vessel was found to be carrying around 500 tons of weaponry, including long-range Katyusha rockets. In January, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz said he was working to recruit countries from around the world to help combat what he called the "transatlantic smuggling" of weaponry from Iran to its terror proxies in the region. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #6 Where's the ship with the legs? |
| Posted by: gorb 2012-04-14 18:33 |
| #5 Thank you TW! Djibouti? Isn't that port supposed to be reasonably friendly to us? Or is that why we found out about the arms? But knowing the arms came out of Djibouti means we can work backwards to trace them. First things first: The Turkish or Cypriot Coast Guard needs to escort that ship to a non-Syrian port for inspection. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2012-04-14 17:12 |
| #4 Ask, and ye shall receive, Dr. Steve. Ynet reports: German weekly Der Spiegel reported that the Atlantic Cruiser was halted in the Mediterranean after its owners were warned it was suspected to be carrying Iranian military equipment to Tartus, Syria, where it was supposed to arrive Friday. Der Spiegel quoted shipping agent Torsten Lueddeke of Hamburg-based CEG Bulk Chartering as saying: "We stopped the ship after we received information on the weapons cargo." Â He said the ship had been chartered to an Odessa, Ukraine-based company called White Whale Shipping and "they declared to us as cargo above all pumps and things like that," according to the report. "We would never have allowed weapons on board." Â The ship's current whereabouts weren't clear. Der Spiegel -- which reported that the suspect cargo was loaded in Djibouti -- said it had changed course for Iskenderun, Turkey, on Friday and then stopped about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Tartus and sailed in circles. Sailing in circles. Perhaps it's not just weapons they're shipping from Iran... |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2012-04-14 16:46 |
| #3 Left unsaid is from where the ship departed, the stops made along the way, and at which port the arms were loaded. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2012-04-14 12:08 |
| #2 Col. Kurtz... "A pile of little arms..." |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2012-04-14 11:03 |
| #1 I would be for seizing any ship that is coming into Syria. Better yet, take out Iran's government and kill the source. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2012-04-14 10:53 |