U.S. to hand over seized missiles

www.cnn.com ^ | 12-11-02 | CNN

[Honcho]

U.S. to hand over seized missiles 'No clear authority' to seize Scuds bound for Yemen

Wednesday, December 11, 2002 Posted: 1:33 PM EST (1833 GMT)

SANAA, Yemen (CNN) -- The United States will allow Yemen to take possession of a shipment of Scud missiles seized by U.S. and Spanish forces in the Indian Ocean, U.S. and Yemeni officials said Wednesday.

The decision came after Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh discussed the incident with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and assured Cheney the missiles would be used only for the defense of his country, Yemeni officials said.

Yemeni officials said Wednesday they bought the missiles some time ago for their armed forces. Foreign Minister Abu Baker Al Qurabi assured the United States that the missiles would not reach any third party, the Yemeni news agency SABA reported.

The ship was intercepted Monday by a Spanish frigate acting on information from U.S. authorities. (View map)

"While there is authority to stop and search, in this instance there is no clear authority to seize the shipment of Scud missiles from North Korea to Yemen. And therefore, the merchant vessel is being released," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. (The law on sea searches)

Yemen's foreign ministry sent a letter to the U.S. ambassador protesting the interception of the So San by the Spanish Navy, and the seizure sparked urgent consultations between U.S. and Yemeni officials.

At the Pentagon, U.S. officials said that before Monday's seizure, Yemeni officials had denied the inbound shipment belonged to them.

Earlier, U.S. officials had defended the seizure, saying it was consistent with a newly announced Bush administration policy to interdict shipments of arms capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction.

Fifteen complete Scud missiles, 15 conventional warheads and 23 containers of nitric acid were found on board the vessel, Spanish Defense Minister Federico Trillo said.

U.S. officials stressed the ship did not appear to be headed to Iraq, which used Scuds in 1991 during the Persian Gulf War. The ballistic missile can have a range of up to 400 miles, but it was unclear what type of Scud was aboard the ship.

[Honcho]

I didn't find this in a search so I hope it's not a repost. Comments?

[swarthyguy]

>>'No clear authority'

Sounds like "no Controlling legal authority"

Now where have i heard that before?

[PianoMan]

Hunh.

[anobjectivist]

Mmm nothing defends my country like a big heaping bowl of nitric acid.

[Lee Heggy]

They may still be fire-able but I'll bet those warheads are toast.

[blau993]

I assume we added to the telemetry the special "return to sender" circuit. No extra charge for that little improvement.

[i are a cowboy]

My guess is that the U.S. wants to see who ends up with the missles. By letting them go we may be able to trace them to the bad guys by satelite and open up a can of whoop a$$ on the end users.

[GRRRRR]

A great possibility, however, much more likely they just disappear and in a few months, another jet drops from the sky...This is a terrible mistake on our part. We should just say TOUGH BEANS, So SUE us!! Call Johnny Cockran....

GRRRRRollin'

[Darksheare]

You can voice that again for me as well.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Did you ever notice that Yemen is an anagram for enemy? Coincidence? I think not.

[anymouse]

WTF!

Just push the Scuds over the side. Then when the Yemenies ask what happened to the missles, just say, "what missiles?"

[hchutch]

Either that, or we've rigged the missiles up so trying to use them causes "own goals" in a "work accident" at the launch site. The terrorists should have considered that risk before they decided to acquire Scuds.

[RightWhale]

After a delay of a day the purchaser of the secret shipment finally identifies himself. Isn't it odd the rockets were hidden like any contraband?

[krodriguesdc]

ah scuds are no big deal...

looked kind of like a decoy to me anyway...

but they could have smuggled in the real deal...

[eBelasco]

How nice of us to return the missiles. Maybe the Brits should have returned our sailors in 1812.

[Eternal_Bear]

Those scuds were junk(40's or 50's technology). Much ado about nothing.

[kidd]

I have a problem with the fact that North Korea has promised to stop providing these weapons. I believe that we now have the authority to blockade North Korea and search all shipments.

[Tommyjo]

Yemen has operated Scuds since the 1980's. It's regarded as a bit of a prestige weapon system by them. During the Civil War in Yemen (1994) Scuds were used by both sides. Yemen also has a long standing fued with Eritrea over the Greater Hanish Islands and likes to posture the weapons from time to time. Eritrean and Yemeni forces clashed over these disputed islands during the 90's. Yemen and Saudi Arabia also have a disputed border region and had a short skirmish in the mid-90's.

[Gun142]

Put the missiles back in the cement then flood the hull, hope for a storm at sea to stir the mix.

Bush's attempt to hold power over the world's weapons just lost big time.

[ARCADIA]

I think the US just wanted to let Yemen know that it wasn't pulling wool over the US' eyes.

Kinda like saying "Just letting you know that we know." Yemen admitted it and demanded them back because the North Koreans talked. So to save face, they decided to act outraged.