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| Africa Horn |
| MV Faina could embarrass Kenya |
| 2009-02-07 |
| Kenyan lawmakers are demanding their government to clarify who is the owner of the military cargo aboard the released MV Faina. The Kenyan Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense which was assigned to investigate the Faina's cargo mystery wants the government to clear the air on the controversy surrounding the real owners of the military equipment aboard the freighter, our Press TV correspondent reported Friday from Nairobi. The Ukrainian vessel, MV Faina, released on Thursday, Feb 5, is loaded with 33 refurbished T-72 Soviet tanks and crates of light and heavy weapons. Kenyan authorities said it had bought the tanks for its army but foreign diplomats said the arms were bound for south Sudan - a potential embarrassment to Nairobi, which brokered a peace pact for the region on its northwestern border. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service has confirmed that military equipment shipped by the Faina is destined for Kenya. "The cargo on board the ship was transported under a contract between Ukrspetsexport and the Defense Ministry of Kenya," the service's head, Mykola Malomuzh, said at a briefing in Ukrainian capital, Kiev, on Thursday. The investigating committee said that they were still looking into the issue, and now that Faina is released, "we hope to find answers", Adan Keynan, the chairman of parliamentary committee was quoted by our correspondent as saying. The ship is expected to dock at Mombassa port in the middle of next week. |
| Posted by:Fred |