UAE seizes NKorea ship with arms bound for Iran

[IBRIS]

UAE seizes NKorea ship with arms bound for Iran

The United Arab Emirates seized a ship several weeks ago that was bound for Iran and carrying North Korean weapons in violation of a United Nations embargo, Western diplomats said on Friday.

"They (UAE) did seize the ship and it was carrying weapons from North Korea for Iran," a U.N. Security Council diplomat said on condition of anonymity, confirming a report in the Financial Times newspaper.

The diplomat said UAE government officials had informed the U.N. Security Council's sanctions committee, which is responsible for implementing sanctions on Pyongyang.

"It is an issue that is being processed by the committee," said the source, who declined further comment on details on the weapons.

The UAE mission to the U.N. also declined comment on the case.

The Financial Times reported earlier Friday that the ship was seized "some weeks ago," and identified some of the armaments as basic weaponry, including rocket-propelled grenades.

The arms had been falsely labeled as "machine parts," the Times reported.

The new round of U.N. sanctions were approved unanimously on June 12, under resolution 1874, in response to North Korea's earlier nuclear weapons test and subsequent missile launches.

The resolution included financial sanctions designed to choke off revenue to the regime, and also called for beefed-up inspections of air, sea and land shipments going to and from North Korea, and an expanded arms embargo.

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/08/29/83246.html

 

[I-G]

Australia probes North Korean weapons shipment

Updated on Sunday, August 30, 2009, 12:09 IST Tags:Australia, North Korea, Weapons shipment, ANL Australia

Canberra: Authorities are investigating whether Australian law was broken after an Australian-owned ship was seized in the United Arab Emirates carrying North Korean weapons bound for Iran, an official said on Sunday.


Shipping Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that the UAE found banned North Korean weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades, headed for Iran on the Australian-owned, Bahamas-flagged cargo ship ANL Australia.

The seizure is the first since the United Nations Security Council tightened sanctions against North Korea in June in response to its second nuclear test in May and its firing of several missiles.

Albanese told Nine Network television that Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, or DFAT, was investigating whether Australian laws enforcing UN sanctions against North Korea and Iran had been breached.

"We take our obligations under the UN Security Council resolutions seriously," he said.

A DFAT spokeswoman said containers carrying "arms and related materials" were seized by UAE customs officials. She said the seizure occurred in late July, but UN officials said it was early August.

"Australian laws implementing UN Security Council obligations apply both in Australia as well as to Australian citizens and corporations anywhere in the world," the spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity, following department policy.

She did not know what penalties could apply for breaches of the laws.

The ship is owned by Melbourne-based ANL, a subsidiary of France's CMA CGM Group, the world's third-largest container shipping line.

ANL Melbourne manager David Pratt said on Sunday he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Bureau Report

Australia probes North Korean weapons shipment