US says hijacked arms headed to Sudan, not Kenya

[September 29, 2008]  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- A U.S. Navy spokesman says a weapons shipment on a Ukrainian ship hijacked by Somali pirates was headed to Sudan, not Kenya.

Lt. Nathan Christensen, a deputy spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain, says the buyers in Sudan are unknown.

A 5th Fleet statement Monday says the ship was headed for the Kenyan port of Mombassa, but that "additional reports state the cargo was intended for Sudan."

Kenya has claimed it was the buyer for the shipment, which includes T-72 battle tanks.

The U.N. has imposed an arms embargo on weapons headed to Sudan's Darfur conflict zone. But the ban does not cover other weapons sales to the Khartoum government or the southern Sudan's autonomous government.

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.
AP's earlier story is below.

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MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- An American military spokesman says several U.S. warships are surrounding an arms shipment hijacked by Somali pirates.

Lt. Nathan Christensen of the US Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet says an unspecified number of destroyers and cruisers have joined the USS destroyer Howard within a 10-mile radius of the Ukrainian-operated ship.

The Faina is carrying 33 tanks plus rifles and ammunition that the U.S. fears may fall into the hands of Islamic insurgents fighting the Somali government.

Christensen says the American ships will remain in place to monitor negotiations between the pirates and the ship company and helicopters are conducting over flights of the hijacked vessel.

Pirates seized the ship off the coast of Somalia on Thursday as it headed to Kenya.

[Associated Press; By BARBARA SURK]

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