North Korea Supplying Hezbollah?
Cypriot authorities have seized a cargo ship bound for Syria that was carrying truck-mounted air defense radar systems from North Korea. The action came after a tip from Interpol about suspected arms smuggling.
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 got 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.
Senior government officials said the Foreign Ministry would decide what to do with the cargo in consultation with legal authorities.
Customs became involved because of the apparent discrepancy on the ship manifest, which spoke of meteorological equipment.
The questions that come to mind right away are who is paying for this equipment and what is the final destination? It seems unlikely that the Syrian government needs equipment like this, since they already have air defense capability. So where was it headed? One suspects it was bound for Hezbollah.
North Korea | Gaius Monday, 11 September , 2006
