Last update - 00:00 08/09/2006
Cyprus police check suspect cargo on Syria-bound ship
By Reuters
NICOSIA - A ship bound for Syria from North Korea and detained in Cyprus was carrying trucks apparently fitted with surveillance and tracking devices, Cyprus police said Friday.
Officials were trying to determine whether the equipment could be used for meteorological purposes as stated on the freight manifest.
The Panamanian-flagged Gregorio 1 was initially detained in the port of Limassol following an Interpol alert that it may be engaged in arms smuggling.
The bill of lading said the vessel was carrying weather observation equipment, and shipping officials have said the boat initially set off from North Korea.
"From inquiries to date it appears that the cargo was being transferred to Syria. The Syrian government is claiming the cargo, stating that it is meteorological equipment," Cyprus police said in a statement.
There is no UN restriction in place in arms sales or supplies to Syria, but the country's borders with Lebanon are generally regarded as the main conduit in the past for weapons supplies to Hezbollah guerrillas.
Cypriot Communications Minister Haris Thrassou told Reuters: "We have police and other officials checking the equipment to see if it indeed corresponds to the stated documentation."
Of the 21 trucks on board the boat, 18 were found to be fitted with radar equipment. Police said the technology of the radars was dated, but that the system was upgraded and could possibly be used for surveillance and tracking.
"We have not reached a firm conclusion yet on what these systems could be used for," a police spokeswoman said.
The trucks were unloaded Friday, and the search of the vessel would extend to metal pipes also found on board, she said.
The vessel was sailing from Port Said in Egypt to the Syrian port of Latakia when it approached Cypriot territorial waters to take on fuel.
Cypriot shipping authorities have prohibited it from leaving Limassol and its 15 crew, 14 Ukrainians and a Russian, were being questioned.