Kuwait's coast guard has seized a Malaysian oil tanker carrying 1,500 tons of Iraqi oil in violation of the UN embargo imposed on Baghdad for invading the emirate in 1990, a newspaper reported Sunday, November 18.
Sources told Al-Anba that the Malaysian-flagged ship, which is owned by an Iraqi identified as Ahmad Ali Al-Shaikh, was smuggling the oil to Malaysia. The tanker's crew of eight Iraqis and five Indians were arrested and the ship towed to Shuwaikh Port near Kuwait City.
Kuwait last year seized more than 20 vessels and small tankers carrying oil and goods from Iraq to the Gulf Arab monarchies. The ships and contents are normally sold at auction. Crew members, mostly from the Indian subcontinent, are detained and fined before being deported to their home countries.
Under the embargo, Baghdad is authorized to export crude only under strict UN control to buy food, medicine and other essential goods. — (AFP, Kuwait City)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
