The Hindu : Weapons on Iraqi cargo ships?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 20, 2003

International

International

Weapons on Iraqi cargo ships?

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON FEB. 19. The British Government today declined to comment on a newspaper report that British and American intelligence were "tracking'' three giant cargo ships on suspicion that they may be carrying Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

An official spokesperson told The Hindu that the Government did not comment on "speculative intelligence reports''.

Significantly, the report was carried by the Left-wing The Independent newspaper, which normally avoids sensationalism.

In a front-page splash, it quoted "authoritative'' shipping sources as saying that the ships had aroused suspicion because they had maintained complete radio silence and their captains had refused to provide information on their cargoes or destination. This was in breach of international maritime laws.

The ships, said to be flying the flags of three countries, have been sailing for three months after they reportedly left port in late November, shortly after the U.N. weapons inspectors arrived in Baghdad.

The report claimed they were chartered by a shipping agent in Egypt and had "berthed in a handful of Arab countries, including Yemen''.

``American and British military forces are believed to be reluctant to stop and search the vessels for fear that any intervention might result in them being scuttled.

If they are carrying chemical and biological weapons, or fissile nuclear material, and they were to be sunk at sea, the environmental damage could be catastrophic,'' the paper said.

Analysts said if the ships were really carrying Iraqi arsenal they could provide Britain and America the "smoking gun'' they have been looking for to justify a military attack on Iraq. According to The Independent, the ships were thought to have set sail from a country other than Iraq to avoid interception by Western naval patrols in the Gulf.

"Defence experts believe that if they are carrying weapons of mass destruction, these could have been smuggled out through Syria or Jordan,'' it said.

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