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| Arabia | |
| No Turkish connection to new found weapon cargo | |
| 2013-01-27 | |
| [Yemen Post] When Yemen authorities reported last Thursday they discovered yet another weapon cargo bearing the made in Turkey seal, allegations immediately resurfaced that Ankara was illegally exporting weapons to Yemen. A closer look at the evidences paint an entirely different picture. The shipment which was registered under "plastic goods" was concealing a large amount of traumatic weapons. The entire concealment -- guns and riffles -
cannot under international law and regulations be described as a weapon shipment since none of the devices found have the ability to fire live ammunitions, only rubber bullets. Traumatic weapons are often used for crowd control, self defense or training purposes. Russia for example is well-known for "arming" its security forces with traumatic guns and riffles when dealing with riots. Moreover, traumatic weapons benefit from relax import-export regulations and therefore can easily be bought by individuals or companies and then loaded and shipped internationally without raising much concerns from the Customs authorities. That being said, a Yemen security expert explained that although the cargo found in Aden could not in its current shape be labeled or described as weapons, clever engineering could turn them into lethal instruments. And while Saba - Yemen News Agency - quoted Mohammed Ziman, Head of the Customs Authority as saying "According to preliminary information, the cargo included about 3780 machine guns, T14 type," it failed to explain that the weapons were non lethal and perfectly conform to international trading standards. Turkey Ambassador Fazli Corman who upon being notified by Yemen officials of the discovery of yet another shipment of weapons, bearing a relation to Turkey, was keen to offer his support and absolute cooperation. He flew on Friday to Aden where he met local officials and personally inspected the ship. Ambassador Corman noted that while the Yemeni authorities could rest assured of his support, he felt the two months delay in between the arrival of the ship to Aden and the inspection could now prove detrimental to forensic experts and therefore impede the inquiry. Ambassador Corman also deplored the "hasty conclusions" some members of the press felt compel to publish, stressing that none of the evidence found so far could in any way shape or form involve Turkey in a smuggling plot. Security experts close to the matter pointed to the troubling possibility of Yemen being turned into a weapon smuggling hub for criminal organizations or terror groups in the region. By its geography and 2000Km of coast, Yemen sits at a crossroad between the Middle East, Africa and Asia, a perfect transit area. "The weapons found are very unlikely aimed at the Yemeni market. Yemen has one of the world highest ratio of weapons per inhabitant, and traditionally Yemenis go for much powerful firearms; small hand guns are not your typical weapon of choice around here," said a retired security officer. But what is now puzzling experts is the idea that criminals could be trying to turn traumatic weapons into live ammunitions-shooting firearms, using their toy-looking exterior to pass them off as such, fooling foreign countries into allowing them into their territory. An officer recently retired from the Central Security Forces said that in her mind there was no doubt the shipment was either destined to be transported by road across Yemen's borders to another region altogether or meant for local terror group such as al-Qaeda. "The amount of small guns does not fit the militia theory - individuals in Yemen theorized Turkey is arming factions in Yemen to spread instability - but could be used by Islamic fascisti to carry out an attack or infiltrate a public area without alerting the attention of the authorities." | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 but what about "riffles"? Aren't those chips? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2013-01-27 12:02 |