The US Navy on Monday, July 16, denied Baghdad's charges it had detained for two weeks a cargo ship bound for Iraq, saying the vessel had been released to allow its cargo to be re-arranged for a full inspection.
"We're not detaining the 'Man'," said Commander Jeff Gradeck, spokesman for the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet. "The maritime interception force (MIF) boarded the Man, a cargo vessel flagged in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on July 3.
"We did not authorize it to proceed to Iraq but released it with a recommendation to re-configure its cargo in compliance with UN-accepted procedures for mariners," Gradeck told AFP.
"The procedures say that the boarding team has to have access to all cargo. The ship was configured in such a way that the team could not get access to the lower hold," he said.
The Iraqi commerce ministry said Sunday the US Navy had intercepted a ship loaded with 13,000 tons of sugar steaming to the port of Um Qasr under a UN humanitarian program and had held it for two weeks. "There was sugar on board, but until we see the remainder of the cargo, we cannot say whether it is legal or illegal," Gradeck said.
MIF is a US-led multinational fleet that patrols Gulf waters to enforce a UN embargo slapped on Iraq for invading Kuwait in 1990.
Ships are often intercepted leaving Iraq to guard against smuggling of oil products outside the confines of the UN oil-for-food program, which authorizes Baghdad to export crude in return for humanitarian supplies. ― (AFP, Manama)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
