THE US said yesterday it had sought clarifications from both Russian and Cyprus over a Russian-operated ship that has arrived in Syria and which sources said contained a cargo of bullets.
“With regard to the ship we have raised our concerns about this both with Russia and with Cyprus, which was the last port of call for the ship, and we are continuing to seek clarification as to what went down here,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
The United States had not independently verified the contents of the ship’s cargo, she said.
A spokesperson for the US embassy in Nicosia said last night that the “conversation” regarding Cyprus had taken place with the Cypriot embassy in Washington.
The Russian-operated ship with “a dangerous cargo” has now reached Syria, a source at the vessel’s St Petersburg-based firm told Reuters.
The source declined to comment on reports that the ship Chariot, which set sail from St. Petersburg on December 9, was carrying cargo from Russia’s state weapons exporter Rosoboronexport.
Rosoboronexport spokesman Vyacheslav Davidenko said the arms exporter would neither confirm nor deny the report. “We do not comment on where our deliveries go, when they leave port or how.”
Cypriot authorities intercepted the ship after it put into the port of Limassol for refuelling. The vessel was allowed to sail onwards after promising to change its destination.
The EU said yesterday it was aware of the case and that national authorities were responsible for making sure an EU arms embargo is upheld.
“We are instrumental in putting these measures in place but it’s up to the national authorities to make sure they are implemented and as far as I’m aware the authorities in this case are confident that the embargo has not been broken,” said Michael Mann, spokesman for Catherine Ashton, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs.
Back from his trip to Israel, opposition DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades yesterday berated the government for not adhering to EU common policies on the Syrian arms embargo and failing to get the help of other organisations or countries in handling the issue.
“A European country has to follow the common policies of the EU, and it is well known that there is an embargo, stricter than that of the UN, on supplying prohibited arms to Syria. The handling of this was not the most successful,” he said.
The government had an “obligation and duty” to prevent the ship from leaving Limassol port from the moment it found that it was transporting illegal cargo to Syria.
“It simply changed its destination for the purposes of its release and to end up in a Syrian port,” said Anastassiades.
As happened with the confiscation of the 98 containers from the Monchegorsk ship heading to Syria in 2009 which ended up exploding in Mari last July, the government failed to seek the assistance of other organisations like the EU or UN, he argued.
Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou responded that “all appropriate action was taken”, with EU regulations taken into consideration. The result was that the interests of Cyprus were served, he said.
He accused the opposition of constantly moaning: “Those claiming without any proof that the government failed to properly handle the Chariot ship should state what it is the government should have done. They avoid doing this, as always, and instead just complain and criticise.”
