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Newsletter : 2fax0107.txt
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>JN Jan. 7, 2002, Vol. 10, No. 4
Saddam Hussein: Iraqi Army Could Defeat Any Attack
By VOA News
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein says his army has the capability to defeat any attack against the country.
Saddam shrugged off reports the United States might extend the war against terrorism to Iraq. The Iraqi leader also praised the Palestinian uprising against Israel and mujahadin (holy war) fighters everywhere in the world.
UK Newspaper Says Arms-Laden Boat Was Probably Iraqi
By VOA and IsraelNationalNews.com
A British publication reported Monday that the arms-laden boat seized in the Red Sea last week by Israeli commandos was probably Iraqi-owned.
The specialist shipping newspaper Lloyds List said that the current owner of the cargo ship is an Iraqi national and that he purchased the vessel from its former Lebanese owners last year.
Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon alleged Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat was directly responsible for ordering the shipment. He said it came from Iran and that the weapons were intended for Palestinian groups fighting Israel.
Sharon made the accusation at the Red Sea port of Eilat as he displayed 50 tons of Katyusha rockets, anti-tank missiles, small arms and mines seized by Israel.
Palestinian officials denied the allegations and accused Sharon of trying to find a pretext to escalate attacks against Palestinians. Iranian officials have also denied any links with the ship.
Meanwhile, U.S. envoy General Anthony Zinni left the Middle East Sunday without a ceasefire agreement but released a statement saying opportunities for progress are there. Earlier, he hosted a meeting of Israeli and Palestinian security officials. Three weeks of relative calm that preceded his mission continued during his four-day visit. Zinni is expected to return to the region in a few weeks.
Sharon said Arafat made a strategic choice to bring about regional deterioration that would lead to war when he ordered the illegal weapons. Sharon was speaking to reporters in the southern port of Eilat, where the seized vessel is moored. He called the vessel a "ship of terror."
Israel seized the boat and 50 tons of ammunition, anti-tank missiles, rifles, and other arms on Thursday in the Red Sea. Israel says members of the Palestinian naval police and the pro-Iranian Hizbullah militant group were on board. The Palestinians have denied any links to the arms smuggling. So have Iran and Hizbullah.
IsraelNationalNews.com reported that in less than eight minutes, the operation was over. Israeli naval commandos slid down ropes from air force helicopters and simultaneously climbed up the sides onto the freighter carrying 50 tons of arms, overtaking the vessel by complete surprise, without firing a shot.
The operation, code-named "Noah's Ark," was carried out early Thursday morning about 300 miles south of Israel in the Red Sea. The planning of the operation was overseen by IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz, who also personally commanded it from an aircraft above. The ship, named Karin A, was headed for Gaza via the Suez canal. Navy forces escorted the freighter into the Israeli, Red Sea port of Eilat, arriving Friday night.
Military sources said that most of the weapons on board came from Iran and were packaged in 83 cases coated for sea-smuggling purposes. The special waterproof containers are manufactured exclusively in Iraq and can be configured to float at various distances below the ocean surface.
Included in the shipment were 107mm and 122mm Katyusha rockets (capable of reaching major Israeli cities), 120mm mortars, Sager and LAW anti-tank missiles, explosives, anti-tank mines, scuba gear, AK-47 assault rifles, and more.
During the interrogation of the captured crew members, it was learned that the PLO purchased the arms for $15 million. The ship cost $400,000.
In a similar incident, on May 6, 2001, the Israeli navy intercepted a vessel laden with heavy weapons headed for the Gaza coast from Lebanon. The shipment contained anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank missile launchers, rocket-propelled grenades, and mortar shells in addition to other arms. Although the PLO denied any connection to the shipment, as they did in last week's incident, Israeli sources dismissed those claims and said that without doubt the PLO helped organize the illegal operation.
The PLO mission to smuggle illegal arms into Israel began in October 2000. According to an IDF report, the head of the PLO weapons purchasing unit, Addal Mugrabi, made contacts with Iranian and Hizbullah factions in October 2000 regarding a vast weapons-smuggling operation.
Mugrabi purchased the Karin A in Lebanon and in December 2001 the
ship sailed to the beaches of Iran near the Keish Islands. There,
a ferry approached the ship carrying the 83 waterproof, floatable
crates containing the weapons.
The crates were then transferred and loaded on the Karin A. The
ship was supposed to cross the Suez Canal this week and unload the
weapons onto three smaller ships. Those ships were to transport the
arms to Al Arish in the Egyptian Sinai and then were to be
delivered to Gaza.
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