Russian Ship with Syrian Choppers 'Turns Back'

Arutz Sheva ^ | 19/6/12 | Gil Ronen

[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Earlier Tuesday, the Telegraph reported that British marine insurer Standard Club said it had withdrawn coverage from all the ships owned by Femco, a Russian cargo line, including the MV Alaed.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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[Eleutheria5]

Greece is an intriguing possibility. Russia would have a whole system of islands, capes and peninsulas for their warm water ports, they would be sticking it to Turkey And arguably also the US, and be smack dab in the middle of the Med. Greek and Russian religious, cultural and historical ties are also fairly deep. Then there’s that matter of Turkey occupying part of Cyprus. Cyprus is independent of Greece, but they share a language and are right next door to each other.

[gandalftb]

Agreed.

The Cypriot Air Base they rented to Israel is named after the former Greek Prime Minister, Papandreou. The Cypriots are much closer to Greece.

Rumor has that the Russians have almost concluded a deal with Cyprus on a sub base. The Russians know their days in Tartous are numbered.