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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dennis O'Bell who wrote (61094)	12/11/2002 1:14:18 PM
From: Sam Citron	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Yemen: US Lets N.Korea Scud Ship Sail to Yemen Wed December 11, 2002 12:31 PM ET SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen said on Wednesday the United States had released a North Korean ship carrying Scud missiles and that it was sailing to the Arab state. The official Yemeni news agency Saba said Secretary of State Collin Powell told Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh by telephone that the crew had returned to the ship and that the weapons cargo was headed to Yemen. Earlier, U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney told Saleh the United States had agreed to release the vessel because its cargo was legal, the agency said. The ship was seized by Spain and the United States in the Arabian Sea on Monday. Yemen protested to both countries, saying the missiles had been bought for its army from North Korea.

To: Dennis O'Bell who wrote (61094)	12/11/2002 2:05:12 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 281500

debka's take on the freighter interception: The odd thing is that, while the North Korean vessel was expected, it was not allowed to dock at its port of call and thus solve the mystery of its destination. The likely reason for this omission is simple: Yemen is a valuable ally in the US-led coalition against international terrorism. Its government allows US special forces to hunt al Qaeda fugitives on its soil. At the same time, on the side, Yemen is also deep in arms trafficking. The Red Sea republic has grown into a key under-the-counter Middle East-East Africa center for buying, selling - but mostly smuggling, weapons of war. The North Korean freighter was stopped before it reach port - both to prevent the cargo from reaching the wrong hands and so as not to land the helpful Yemeni authorities in hot water. Sounds plausible enough to me. Do you think that the government of Yemen just copped some free Scuds that somebody else paid for?