From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Tue Sep 30 2008 - 12:49:37 EDT
Where were Russian tanks destined on ship hijacked off Somalia?
By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 30, 2008
NAIROBI, KENYA --
This time it's the booty, not the pirates, that everyone's talking about.
And what they're wondering is: Just where were those Russian tanks going?
As additional U.S. warships gathered around a hijacked Ukrainian ship
off Somalia, questions persisted Monday about where the vessel's
military cargo was destined.
The governments of Kenya and Ukraine say the
shipment of 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks, ammunition and spare parts was
part of a legal sale contracted last year to supply the Kenyan army.
But
U.S. officials, arms experts and maritime officials say the more likely
destination was southern Sudan, where the former rebel group Sudan
People's Liberation Movement, or SPLM, governs an autonomous region and
has been working aggressively over the last three years to transform
its ragtag guerrilla army into a professional fighting force.
"We received reports that the cargo was intended
for Sudan, so obviously our goal is to maintain watch over the ship
while negotiations are taking place," said Lt. Nathan Christensen,
spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.
He said "several" U.S. ships had surrounded the hijacked vessel Monday, but no further actions were planned.
Arms
experts wondered why Kenya would purchase Russian-made tanks since its
previous suppliers have been the United States, Britain and China.
Kenya's current tanks are British-built.
"I'm not aware of Kenya
using any [former] Soviet bloc weaponry before, so if they are, that's
a major shift," said one arms expert in the region who did not want to
be identified.
Southern Sudan, by contrast, has been buying
Russian-made tanks over the last year, officials said, including nearly
50 T-54 battle tanks. That deal drew attention in February when one
shipment was briefly held up at the Kenyan port of Mombasa amid that
country's postelection turmoil.
Andrew Mwangura, head of the
Seafarers Assistance Program in Kenya, said at least three arms
shipments destined for southern Sudan had moved through Mombasa over
the last year.
The Kenyan government, however, said Monday that
the hijacked cargo was "important military equipment paid for by the
Kenyan taxpayer for use by the Kenyan military."
A government
spokesman declined to comment on why the government was purchasing
Russian-made tanks or how they fit into the country's military strategy.
"We
don't discuss why we need arms," spokesman Alfred Mutua said. He
described allegations that the tanks might be sold or transferred to
Sudan as "propaganda."
"We have not had any tanks go from Kenya to Sudan. Kenya makes sure it's not a conduit for any illegal arms," he said.
Southern
Sudanese officials could not be reached for comment Monday. One army
official in the region was quoted over the weekend in a Sudanese
newspaper as denying that the military goods were headed for the south.
But
since signing a 2005 treaty with the Sudanese government that ended a
21-year north-south civil war, the SPLM has not hidden its desire to
strengthen its former guerrilla army. It spends about half its budget
on military training, salaries and supplies.
In addition to
purchases and assistance from countries such as the U.S., Russia and
Ethiopia, the new autonomous southern Sudanese government recently
announced it might build its own air force.
Under the terms of
the peace treaty, southern Sudan is permitted to operate and fund its
own military, separate from the national army. The agreement does not
prohibit southern Sudan from purchasing foreign weapons, nor is the
region restricted by the United Nations arms embargo, which covers the
Darfur region in western Sudan.
Recent skirmishes between
Sudan's northern and southern armies in the disputed oil-rich city of
Abyei underscored the sense of urgency felt in the south to build up
its forces in case the treaty collapses or combat resumes.
The northern army also receives heavy weapons from Russia and China and has its own manufacturing facilities for tanks.
The
SPLM also wants a strong army to help enforce the results of a
referendum planned for 2011, in which southern Sudanese might vote to
separate from the north, analysts said.
Hijackers said Monday
they were seeking $20 million for the release of the cargo and 20
hostages, according to Sugale Ali Omar Omar, who identified himself as
one of the pirates and spoke in a phone interview. He said U.S. ships
were about a mile away and warplanes were flying low over the ship.
One crew member has died of a suspected heart attack, but all others are safe, he said.
"We are ready if the foreign warships attack us," he said. "If they fire on us, we will open what we have on them."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pirates30-2008sep30,0,911912.story
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