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Andreas Lazarou / AFP - Getty Images
The Saint Vincent-flagged Chariot cargo ship, said to be carrying tons of munitions from Russia to Syria, is released by the Cypriot authorities after receiving confirmation the vessel would not proceed to the Syrian port of Latakia as originally scheduled.
A Russian ship apparently laden with arms for Syria was under way again Wednesday after being detained in Cyprus, only now its destination is supposed to be Turkey.
The incident signals apparently signals Russia's continued military support for the Syrian regime, according to The Guardian newspaper of London. The regime is under a European Union embargo for President Bashar Assad's crackdown on an uprising that has left at least 5,000 dead over the past 10 months.
The cargo ship, owned by St. Petersburg-based Westberg Ltd., left the Russian port Dec. 9 for Turkey and Syria, which is 65 miles east of Cyprus, officials said.
Russia and Turkey are not members of the European Union, so the route did not violate the embargo.
However, the Chariot, a St. Vincent and Grenadines-flagged ship, dropped anchor off the southern Cypriot port of Limassol on Tuesday because of high seas, drawing the attention of Cypriot officials.
Customs officials boarded the ship to examine its cargo, but couldn't open and inspect four containers in the hold because of "the confined space" they were stored in, the Cypriot Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Nevertheless, the officials determined they were holding a "dangerous cargo."
The Guardian cited a Greek-language Politis newspaper report that the vessel carried ammunition of various calibers and that the recipient was the Syrian defense ministry. Another newspaper, Simerini, said initial reports suggested it was carrying 35 tons of explosives, weapons and munitions.
Cyprus Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias told private Sigma TV that the cargo was of a type that "essentially necessitated its seizure."
The ship was also carrying an electricity generator, the foreign ministry said.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted a Westberg spokesman as saying that the Chariot was ferrying cargo owned by Russia's state arms trader Rosoboronexport. Cypriot authorities talked with the ship's Russian owners, who promised to change the ship's route, and the vessel was allowed to refuel and leave Cyprus on Wednesday, a statement said.
"From the moment that we were informed that the cargo aboard the ship won't go to Syria, then we had no reason not to allow (the ship's) immediate release," Kazamias said. "All actions were taken allowing us to properly get rid of this ship with the dangerous cargo."
The statement didn't say where the vessel is now headed. But an official with knowledge of the matter said the ship was allowed to leave after saying its final destination will be nearby Turkey.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity, given the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue.
However, Turkish officials couldn't confirm that the Chariot was heading to Turkey, and the vessel could still make a dash for the Syrian ports of Latakia or Tartus, which Russian warships use as a resupply stop.
Russia is one Assad's few remaining international allies, the Guardian said. Moscow considers the embargo and U.S. sanctions as Western encroachment on its traditional sphere of influence. Moscow continues to supply Damascus with advanced weapons and other arms, the Guardian said.
Syria gives Russia a strategic foothold in the Mediterranean.
Previous seizures
Turkish authorities intercepted an arms shipment from Iran to Syria in August and seized the cargo of a Syria-bound Iranian plane in March because it breached U.N. sanctions.
Turkish media said the aircraft was carrying light weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket launchers and mortars.
Last summer, Cyprus suffered a disaster involving confiscated munitions from another cargo ship heading to the Middle East.
In February 2009, officials seized 85 gunpowder-laden containers from a Cypriot-flagged ship that was suspected of transporting them from Iran to Palestinian militants in Gaza through Syria.
Those containers, left piled in an open field at a naval base, blew up in July, killing 13 people and wrecking the island's main power station in the island's worst peacetime military accident.
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Leave a Comment:
"The incident signals apparently signals Russia's continued military support for the Syrian regime"
...What?
You noticed that too? Yeah. This writer's grammer is terrible.
Death = $$$
Hope he was Russian and not American. But than again, what's the difference, bad grammer is bad grammer.
yeah i read that like four times just to make sure it wasn't me reading it wrong lol.
Ideally, every article would be written quickly while getting all the facts right and being technically perfect at the same time. However, in the rush to get information out quickly, I guess it's reasonable for a few typos or grammar errors to find their way in. Personally, I'd rather have the information quickly from an article with a minor grammar error than wait a few days (or weeks) for a thorough editing process that would perfect everything.
Honestly, I really think the error mentioned above is minor. It doesn't create significant ambiguity or interfere much with the sentence's content. In fact, I didn't even notice the error when I first read through the article.
Also, I'm not trying to criticize anyone, but grammar errors are far more common in comments left by users.
Real newspapers used to have real copy editors who proofread a writer's articles before releasing them for print. These people were in a sense high school English teachers grading papers. No edition of a paper was ever late because of correction of errors in grammar or spelling. It simply doesn't take that long to spot these sorts of errors. Errors of fact are, of course, a different matter. Proofing a writer's copy for blatant errors of usage of the English language doesn't prevent a writer from lying, pushing an agenda, or simply being an ignorant fool. But that's why there are senior editors to oversee the work of the writers.
Besides the first couple of posts complaining about 'grammer' ( which they spelled wrong), is actually an error in syntax.
The US supports the biggest cause of strife in the Middle East...Israel. They need to stand or fall on there own, without US taxpayers footing the bill.
TED We better support them , the moslems are out to get rid of us . Remember the Quran states that all non muslems are not human and should be gotten rid of witha gehaddddd; allla achbar or somthing just as stupid.
it is OK so when we sell arms around the world and Israel uses Terrorism to kill scientist in Iran!
How nice of Russia to support an oppressive regime that is murdering its populous.
Its probably not such a good idea for Russia to help supply a country to kill its own citizens. Thats a foreign policy no-no with most of the countries of the world.
It isn't a no-no when the US does it. The US is the biggest arms supplier in the world, and its arms are used by some of the most violent and oppressive nations in the world. Example: Israel.
Sad, but true, it's only a no no to the morals of the citizens of the nations of foreign trade. For the nations it's the old screw them, before they screw you mentality. In the sense that someones going to sell to them, so we may as well be first, to be sure we get that blood money!
Well its a no-no when its aknowledged by the media atleast. U.S does it more covertly and with a smile.
The US arms Egypt , Saudi Arabia, and Israel for profits and mob gamesmanship. It used to arm Iran when the Shah was the uncontested dictator. The US armed Saddam just before he gassed Iranians in the 1980s.
Glock-
\But the US is full of a bunch of political hypocrites who worship the Saudis (19 of them were in on 9/11) and kiss their hands and their *(*(*es...
Mike & L242 -- I'd be more impressed with your critique of the writer's grammar if you spelled grammar correctly. It's not a grammar mistake anyway; it's poor proofreading by a copy editor.
Well if Assad get war crimes charges brought up against him Mr. Rosoboronexport should as well.
I agree, but Rosoboronexport is not a person. It is a Russian government owned company that exoprts defence technology. It's title translate to Russian Defence Export.
tell you the truth i didn't even try to read the name i just copied and pasted.
Thanks for letting me know without being rude about it as most would.
If Russia wants to keep Syria as a key Mediterranean ally they should help the civilians, not Assad's regime.
Assad WILL fall. They are backing the wrong horse.
post # 12 should read gets not get.
I'm just pointing that out before someone else does.
We have and still do support despots in the Mid East. We recently sold state of the art fighter jets to the Saudis, the land where the 911 perps came from. We are going to sell even more in the region. Before Israel had its own weapons capability we gave them anything they wanted including Nukes.
I sure don't like the Iranian government but not any more than I don't like the Saudis.
What we are hearing is classic Double Speak.
To some extent getting up set over this one ship is irrational to say the least. Understandably with the terrible events taking place in Syria, some parties would have sanctions in place. Look at the history in Labia. Arms were a big part of the oil trade there prior to the civil war. Arms for cash is no different. All the western countries have had or have a hand in arming these countries. When the arms are misused. Cries of foul come out loud and clear. I think it is high time that all the oil using nations including my own the US, start being responsible in their dealing with these different countries. Russia and the US both have huge oil deposits. We don't have to trade arms for oil. In fact we could create jobs but starting production and reduce imports.
Just another oil thing...
"Syria gives Russia a strategic foothold in the Mediterranean."
"Turkish authorities intercepted an arms shipment from Iran to Syria in August and seized the cargo of a Syria-bound Iranian plane in March because it breached U.N. sanctions."
"In February 2009, officials seized 85 gunpowder-laden containers from a Cypriot-flagged ship that was suspected of transporting them from Iran to Palestinian militants in Gaza through Syria."
And that's why thousands are getting massacred: Russia, Iran, Syria, palestinians. Might as well say the cold war is back on track. Can't sell angry kids toys and expect them not to use them. 2012.
What does it mean when Russia and Iran both support militarily the same country which has murdered over 5000 of its citizens? Complete disrespect for human life.
We have done exactly the same. It was Reagan the sold arms to Iran. It was Obama that is selling arms to the Saudis and next to Lybia. We will be selling even more to others in the mid east.
This a lot like the Cold War era when we had those surrogate wars in Korea, Vietnam, etc.
We just killed tens of thousands taking over Iraqi oil, allegedly to pay for the war, which will not happen as we made sure all the international oil corporations made deals with Iraq at our gun point.
We also armed Iraq as we armed many nations killing their people. It's what all the big boy nations do.
I think that it is really important to know what our government does in our name.
Arms to Syria or Turkey make no difference. Under Turkey's current leader, Turkey is quickly becoming just another Sharia state. The EU was smart to have not allowed Turkey become a part of the EU. The "arms" will probably not get to Syria now but, will instead be used by Turkey to attack the 14,000,000 Kurds (with out a state).
No surprises here...Russia chooses to send a ship full of arms to a "political sinking ship"....What's wrong with these people. Where is Gorbachev when the world (and especially Russia) desperately needs him?
Why does Russia ALWAYS support the bad guys? Insecurity complex?
The ship will likely get its weapons to Syria, but the Syrian People who will lose family and friends to this monstrous "gift" from Russia will never forget.
When is Russia going to get a leader who is capable of living in a "post-Cold War" world?
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Must have been the people of Dubai who stole British identities and assassinated someone the Israelis didn't like and must have been the Iranians who blew up their own scientists. No link of course to the cyber attack against Iranian nuclear facilities - couldn't have been Israel - they are too gentle, peace loving and against terrorism.
(Does this sound a bit like the charges that it wasn't Al Qaeda who bombed the US on 9/11? The radicals in Israel are sounding more and more like their extremist Muslim enemies.)
Sorry - commenting on wrong story. Not very surprising that Russia is supporting Syria - consistent with their past policies. Also, Russia and China don't like the concept of other countries intervening in internal struggles - after their struggles in Chechnia, Tibet, etc.
Best to let the Syrians handle this. They will probably get rid of Assad without someone else coming in to take a side in the civil war - though the Arab League is increasingly against Assad.
I'm not going to support the Syrian governments actions,but I do wish we were told a lot more background to the latest trouble there.One thing you can bet on though ,is that like always the US and the rest of the western gang stick their noses where their not wanted.I'll bet they know as little about Syria as most posters here do.Here are a few facts about Syria people might find interesting.First,Syria is a very secular state,one of the last left in the Middle East.Second,the Soviet Union now Russia has for decades been a supporter of the Syrian government.Which is probably the big reason you don't see Libyan type intervention there.The Russians wouldn't look kindly on that.Third,unlike Iraq which under Saddam was a Sunni regime ruling a Shia majority population.Syria has a Shia regime ruling a mostly Sunni population.Even though Assad is a secular ruler,he is still thought of in the Arab world as Shia.Which explains way the Islamic governed Iran supports secular Syria. Most Arabs are Sunni,Iraq,Bahrain,and possibly Lebanon are the only Arab states where the Shia are the majority,and in Lebanon only slightly if at all.In most parts of the Arab world the Shia are tolerated at best.Fourth,the Arab League that went to report on Syria is a Sunni dominated organization,so I'd take what they came up with guardedly.