Ob es stimmt? Irakische Massenvernichtungswaffen auf hoher See!?

verfasst von spieler, 20.02.2003, 09:33

-->http://www.itv.com/news/181033.html

Mystery ships may carry Iraqi cargo
11.33AM GMT, 19 Feb 2003

US and British intelligence services are reportedly tracking three mystery
ships suspected of carrying Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

Asked to comment on the report which appeared in a national newspaper, a
spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence said:"We don't discuss intelligence
issues."

The paper, quoting what it called authoritative shipping industry sources,
said the giant cargo ships had been sailing around the world for the past
three months while maintaining radio silence in violation of international
maritime law.

The captains have failed to provide information on their cargoes or their
destinations, it said.

Intelligence chiefs are believed to be reluctant to stop and search the
vessels for fear they might be scuttled. That could spark an environmental
disaster.

A shipping industry source said:"If Iraq does have weapons of mass
destruction, then a very large part of its capability could be afloat on the
high seas right now.

"These ships have maintained radio silence for long periods and for a
considerable time they have been steaming around in ever decreasing
circles."
By Michael Harrison

19 February 2003

Three giant cargo ships are being tracked by US and British intelligence on
suspicion that they might be carrying Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

Each with a deadweight of 35,000 to 40,000 tonnes, the ships have been
sailing around the world's oceans for the past three months while
maintaining radio silence in clear violation of international maritime law,
say authoritative shipping industry sources.

The vessels left port in late November, just a few days after UN weapons
inspectors led by Hans Blix began their search for the alleged Iraqi arsenal
on their return to the country.

Uncovering such a deadly cargo on board would give George Bush and Tony
Blair the much sought-after"smoking gun" needed to justify an attack on
Saddam Hussein's regime, in the face of massive public opposition to war.

The ships were chartered by a shipping agent based in Egypt and are flying
under the flags of three different countries. The continued radio silence
since they left port, in addition to the captains' failure to provide
information on their cargoes or their destinations, is a clear breach of
international maritime laws.

The vessels are thought to have spent much of their time in the deep waters
of the Indian Ocean, berthing at sea when they need to collect supplies of
fuel and food. They have 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 were carrying chemical and biological weapons, or
fissile nuclear material, and they were to be sunk at sea, the environmental
damage could be catastrophic.

Washington and London might also want to orchestrate any raids so that they
can present the ships as"evidence" that President Saddam is engaged in
"material breach" of UN resolutions. This could provide the trigger for
military strikes. While security sources in London last night were unable to
provide information on any surveillance operation, the movement of the three
ships is the source of growing concern among maritime and intelligence
experts.
shipping industry source told The Independent:"If Iraq does have weapons of
mass destruction, then a very large part of its capability could be afloat
on the high seas right now. These ships have maintained radio silence for
long periods and, for a considerable time, they have been steaming around in
ever-decreasing circles."

The ships are thought to have set sail from a country other than Iraq to
avoid running the gauntlet of Western naval vessels patrolling the Gulf.
Defence experts believe that, if they are carrying weapons of mass
destruction, these could have been smuggled out through Syria or Jordan.

Despite hundreds of searches by UN inspectors, no evidence has yet been
found of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programmes. A succession of
"dossiers" presented by Downing Street has been criticised for providing
inaccurate information, with the most recent one subject to ridicule because
a student's 11-year-old doctoral thesis was being passed off as current
intelligence. There was a further setback for Washington and London when the
accuracy of satellite photographs shown to the United Nations by Colin
Powell, the Secretary of State, purporting to show Iraqi officials moving
incriminating evidence from a suspected site, was questioned by Hans Blix.

Mr Blix said:"The reported movement of munitions at the site could just as
easily have been a routine activity as a movement of proscribed munitions in
anticipation of an imminent inspection."

Attempts to link the Iraqi regime to al-Qa'ida and other Islamist groups
have also been met with scepticism. The UN says, though, that Iraq has
failed to account for 1,000 tonnes of chemical agents from the war against
Iran; to reveal the whereabouts of 6,500 missing chemical rockets; to
produce evidence it has destroyed 8,500 litres of anthrax; and to account
for 380 rocket engines smuggled into Iraq with chemicals used for missile
propellants and control systems.

Intelligence reports, and some Iraqi defectors, have maintained that
incriminating material and documents relating to weapons of mass destruction
have been buried in remote parts of the country and have also been hidden in
a variety of locations including homes of officials and scientists, as well
as mosques. There have also been claims that chemical and biological
products have been smuggled into Syria.


20 February 2003 00:54

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• Ob es stimmt? Irakische Massenvernichtungswaffen auf hoher See!? - spieler, 20.02.2003, 09:33