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| Russia says no missiles onboard hijacked ship | ||
| 2009-09-21 | ||
[Al Arabiya Latest] Russian prosecutors found no suspicious materials on the ship Arctic Sea despite media reports it was carrying an air-defense system for Iran, Russian newswires reported on Saturday.
The Maltese-registered cargo ship with a 15-man Russian crew was officially carrying timber from Finland to Algeria worth 1.7 million dollars when it was boarded on July 24 by eight men. The ship was then intercepted by Russian warships off Cape Verde. Eight suspects -- including Russians, Estonians and Latvians -- were accused of hijacking the Arctic Sea. The suspects have denied the charges of piracy and kidnapping and are now awaiting trial in Moscow. Speculation has raged that the Arctic Sea -- which vanished for several weeks after being allegedly hijacked -- may have carried a secret cargo, including missile systems covertly bound for Iran. British and Russian press reports, citing military sources in Israel and Russia, said the vessel had been loaded with Russian S-300 missiles at the naval port of Kaliningrad without the Kremlin's knowledge.
A spokesman for the Russian Prosecutor General's Investigative Committee said prosecutors found nothing but timber on the ship, anchored near the Canary Islands. "The ship was searched with the help of modern However, suspicions persist in the media, with reports that officials from Spain, Malta and Russia couldn't agree on how and where to transfer the ship, while Spain denied it entry to its port of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. Last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had visited Russia but his office declined to elaborate on the affair. | ||
| Posted by:Fred |