Air Defense Systems Seized in Cyprus
Charles Johnson
Tue Sep 12, 2006 at 8:56 am PDT • Views: 380
A ship on its way to Syria from North Korea was stopped in Cyprus yesterday, and found to be smuggling military air defense systems: Cyprus finds air defense systems on ship to Syria. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)
NICOSIA (Reuters) - A ship bound for Syria from North Korea and detained in Cyprus on an Interpol alert for suspected arms smuggling was carrying air defense systems, Cypriot authorities said yesterday.
The shipment was billed as weather-observation equipment on the freight manifest of the Panamanian-flagged Grigorio 1 and officials said the Syrian government had asked Cyprus to release the seized consignment.
“To my knowledge, their name doesn’t appear anywhere on the manifest as the consignee, but they have become involved,” a senior shipping industry source in Nicosia told Reuters.
He said the vessel had been tracked over a long period of time.
The ship was carrying 18 truck-mounted mobile radar systems and three command vehicles. “The radars on the 18 trucks appear to be part of an air defense system,” a police spokeswoman said. Pipes also found on board were irrigation pipes, she added.
More at DEBKAfile:
DEBKAfile’s military sources report the 18 truck-mounted mobile radar systems and three command vehicles, billed as “weather-observation equipment,” were a part of a consignment Iran purchased from North Korea for Hizballah.
Syria was not listed as the consignee. But the Syrian government asked Cyprus to release the seized consignment.
This is the first irrefutable proof that Syria and Iran are in blatant violation of the arms embargo laid down in Security Council resolution 1701.
Frank says: