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Thursday, Dec. 12, 2002

"While there is authority to stop and search, in this instance there is no clear authority to seize the shipment of Scud missiles from North Korea to Yemen. And therefore, the merchant vessel is being released," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

Then It Must Be True

The decision came after Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and assured him the missiles would be used only for the defense of his country, said officials at the State Department.

Yemeni officials said Wednesday that they bought the missiles some time ago for their armed forces. Foreign Minister Abu Baker Al Qurabi summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest against the vessel's seizure Monday, but assured the United States that the missiles would not reach any third party, the Yemeni news agency SABA reported. "The cargo belongs to the Yemeni government and its armed forces for defense purposes, and it will not reach a third party," said the letter al Qurabi delivered to U.S. Ambassador Edmund J. Hull in Sanaa.

The news agency said the cargo of missiles was part of a contract "concluded very long ago."

Yemen said its possession of the weapons would not harm international peace and security. The country has long been suspected of being a major hideout for al-Qaeda and other militant groups, but the Yemeni government has been an ally of the United States in its war on terror. It has allowed U.S. intelligence to launch deadly operations against al-Qaeda fugitives on its soil.

Al Qurabi also handed over a letter of protest to the Spanish government.

The ship was intercepted Monday by the Spanish navy acting on information from U.S. authorities.

On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department confirmed that a coalition force intercepted a merchant ship that was carrying Scud missiles of apparent North Korean origin, which it had been tracking since its departure.

'Stateless'

U.S. officials said the ship was stopped because it did not have a flag and was considered stateless.

"A stateless ship can be boarded anytime, and this was one and had no marking," said one such official, who didn't want to be identified.

The ship was stopped and boarded about 600 miles east of the Horn of Africa. Two Spanish navy frigates chased, stopped and boarded the vessel, called the So San, as they were monitoring the Arabian Gulf for oil smugglers and fleeing al-Qaeda members. The frigates had to fire shots across the So San's bow to halt the vessel.

Crews from the Spanish ships, the Navarre and Patina, called U.S. authorities for assistance, said Alberto Martinez Arias, a spokesman for Spain's Defense Ministry.

Cement Head

The North Korean captain of the So San initially told Spanish officials the ship was carrying cement. The Scuds were discovered shortly thereafter, Martinez said.

Fifteen complete Scud missiles, 15 conventional warheads and 23 containers of nitric acid were found aboard the vessel, said Spanish Defense Minister Federico Trillo.

U.S. military surveillance planes tracked the ship from North Korea. Fleischer told the reporters the United States was concerned that the vessel's cargo was destined not for Yemen but for an unnamed "potential terrorist nation."

The Scuds are similar to those used by Iraq in the Gulf War.

Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Al-Qaeda
Bush Administration
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War on Terrorism
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