Posted on 06/19/2012 3:56:49 PM PDT by Eleutheria5
Speaking in the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Tuesday that the Russian ship carrying a consignment of refurbished attack helicopters to Syria had turned back to Russia.
The Telegraph website reported that the MV Alaed, a Russian-operated cargo vessel, had been sailing through the North Sea after allegedly picking up a consignment of munitions and MI25 helicopters – known as "flying tanks" – from the Russian port of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea.
"The political situation in Syria is dire. All parties must now implement the Annan plan," Hague said. "The international community needs to come together to compel the regime to do so... We stand ready to pursue robust action in the United Nations Security Council."
Earlier Tuesday, the Telegraph reported that British marine insurer Standard Club said it had withdrawn coverage from all the ships owned by Femco, a Russian cargo line, including the MV Alaed.
"We were made aware of the allegations that the Alaed was carrying munitions destined for Syria," the company said in a statement. "We have already informed the ship owner that their insurance cover ceased automatically in view of the nature of the voyage."
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(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
Huge if true!
Somebody posted yesterday the ship’s insurance was canceled after it was pointed out the cargo may be lethal and in violation of European Union sanctions.
Maybe it wasn't Britain, Maybe it was the USA? I'm sure Putin is terrified of Obama...
The full explanation is that the freighter would have its insurance dropped if it entered a Syrian port to unload.
The freighter will now go to port and have the serial numbers of the helo’s checked. If in fact they are helo’s that Syria shipped to Russia for repair and refurbishment, they may be allowed to be returned to Syria.
This is not likely to be a case of new military equipment being sold to Syria.
Next day Russians will say a cargo US shipping to Afghanistan via Russia is lethal and it is violating something grabbing a few Apaches and you won’t do a thing.
Maybe there will be war between the UK and Russia. ;-)
The other supply route to U.S. forces in Afghanistan begins at the Port of Karachi in Pakistan then proceeds overland by truck to Kandahar. So the two logistic lifelines to U.S. troops are really choke points controlled by people who want us to fail.
Russia, at this point, would be hedging its bets and helping both sides, but certainly not with new, state-of-the-art equipment right out of the box.
Russia, at this point, would be hedging its bets and helping both sides, but certainly not with new, state-of-the-art equipment right out of the box.
Russia has quite a problem here. They are hated by sunni muslims. Tartus is their only warm water port, that they have exclusive use of, it is essentially Russian territory.
If Al-Assad falls Tartus will come under assault and the Russians will lose everything.
The Russian Marines are there to defend the port and to evacuate Russians, that’s the purpose of sending half-empty amphibious support ships.
The Russians are fully aware of the embargo, any weapon systems are likely for Russian use to defend Tartus.
That’s an element of which I was unaware. So they must intend to weigh in heavily for Assad, and are sending refurbished old choppers simply because they’re cheap.
Those are refurbished Syrian helos that were bought from the Russians years ago and are being returned. Like sending a suit out to the cleaners.
The Russians are clearly in Al-Assad’s court but see him losing the eventual battle. The Russians are snooping around the Med for another deep warm-water port.
Why not Jaffe or Ashdod? They wouldn’t have to deal with Arabs.
The Russians and Israelis aren’t that chummy.
Russia is chatting with Cyprus, however. Cyprus is feeling leaned on by the Turks and needs another big brother. Israel already has a base there.
Enh. That can change. We need a Plan B. Russia needs to make the US sweat. Arabs are better for that, because they have oil. But on the other hand, they’re nuts, and that’s bad for business. So the lack of chuminess between Israel and Russia, while a present fact, might not be a future one. Russia and Turkey have been rivals since Peter the Great. Since we’re no longer chummy with Turkey, Russia is a natural alternative. But personally, I would prefer India as a best buddy.
I fully agree on India, we could really benefit.
As broke as Greece is and with all their islands and shoreline, seems like Russia could write checks that would be gladly received and get a base going there.
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