Sacks of powdered cement hide crates containing Scud missiles on board an unmarked North Korean ship seized in the Arabian Sea.
Dec. 11 — The United States has agreed to release a North Korean ship that carried Scud-type missiles destined to Yemen, a senior U.S. administration official said Wednesday. Yemen had protested the high-seas seizure by Spanish and U.S. forces and demanded the release of the cargo, which it said was intended for the country’s military.
EARLIER ON WEDNESDAY, Jim Miklaszweski reported U.S. military officials were frustrated at Yemen, which is ostensibly an ally in the U.S. war on terrorism.
They said Yemen had previously denied ownership of the cargo, but now that the government has claimed the arsenal, the United States has no choice under international law but to release the weapons.
On Wednesday, Yemen’s foreign minister, Abu Bakr al-Kerbi, summoned U.S. Ambassador Edmund J. Hull to protest the seizure. The U.S. Embassy had no comment.
“The minister informed the ambassador that the shipment was bound to Yemen and that the missiles were only to be used in defensive purposes,” a Yemeni official told The Associated Press.
A statement run by the state-owned Saba news agency said Yemen stressed the importance of the return of the shipment to the Yemeni government.
Yemen also sent a formal protest to Spain, whose warships intercepted the North Korean vessel.
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Excerpted from: Here