[Irak] VS en UK volgen 3 mysterieuze schepen

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LONDEN - Amerikaanse en Britse inlichtingendiensten volgen drie schepen met mogelijk Iraakse massavernietigingswapens aan boord. Dat meldde het Britse dagblad The Independent woensdag op basis van betrouwbare bronnen in de scheepvaart.

De vrachtschepen zijn sinds eind november op zee gesignaleerd, kort na het begin van de VN-wapeninspecties in Irak en weigeren elk radiocontact. Dat laatste is in strijd met het international zeerecht.

De schepen zijn gecharterd door een Egyptische agent en varen alle drie ondereen andere vlag. Ze zouden uit een haven in een ander land dan Irak zijn vertrokken om niet in de handen te vallen van de westerse marineschepen die patrouilleren in de Perziche Golf. Mogelijke massavernietigingswapens aan boord zijn vermoedelijk via Syrië of Jordanië gesmokkeld.

ABC-wapens

De ontdekking van ABC-wapens zou voor de VS de 'smoking gun' kunnen zijn om militair in te grijpen in Irak. Volgens The Independent weifelen Amerikaanse en Britse geheime diensten om de vaartuigen te enteren uit angst dat de schepen tot zinken worden gebracht. Mochten ze chemisch, biologisch of nucleair materiaal aan boord hebben en naar de bodem van de oceaan verdwijnen, kan dit een enorme natuurramp veroorzaken.

De drie schepen verblijven bijna continu op volle zee en hebben een enkele haven in het Midden-Oosten (waaronder een in Jemen) aangedaan om voedsel en brandstof in te slaan. Pogingen om informatie over de lading of bestemming te krijgen, zijn steeds mislukt. De schepen zouden ieder tussen de 35.000 en 40.000 ton vracht kunnen vervoeren.

Het bewind in Bagdad moet nog rekenschap geven van meer dan 1000 ton aan chemische gifgassen gebruikt tijdens de oorlog tegen Irak, aldus de Verenigde Naties. Verder worden nog 6500 raketten met een chemische wapenkop vermist en moet president Saddam Hussein bewijzen dat zijn strijdkrachten 8500 liter antrax hebben vernietigd.

Bron: http://nu.nl/news.jsp?n=111390&c=23

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[Dit bericht is gewijzigd door NightH4wk op 19-02-2003 13:50]

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Op woensdag 19 februari 2003 13:45 schreef Dirty_Harry het volgende:
een bron zou ook wel leuk zijn

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Op woensdag 19 februari 2003 13:48 schreef no3big het volgende:

[..]

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Op woensdag 19 februari 2003 13:46 schreef NightH4wk het volgende:

[..]

http://nu.nl/news.jsp?n=111390&c=23

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Three mystery ships are tracked over suspected 'weapons' cargo

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.

A 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.

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