Posted on 12/17/2002 11:09:24 AM PST by GeneD
LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet accused a Dubai-based ferry operator Tuesday of breaking U.N. sanctions by smuggling banned chemicals into Iraq that it said could be used to make high-grade explosives.
It said the industrial-grade alcohol and polymers, which can also be used for industrial cleaning agents and cosmetics, could also be used to manufacture chemical weapons agents.
Naif Marine Services had been caught shipping the chemicals aboard ferries it operates into Umm Qasr, close to the Kuwaiti border in recent months, said Fifth Fleet public affairs officer Lt. Garret Kaspar.
"In the wrong hands, quantity aside, they can be used to make a bomb," Kaspar said, speaking from fleet headquarters in Bahrain.
He said the company was on an "unofficial list" of some 10 firms that had violated U.N. sanctions and that were being watched closely.
"Without getting into intelligence gathering, this company is one of the agencies that has been shipping banned chemical substances into Iraq -- they are blatantly being shipped," he told Reuters from Bahrain.
He said the ferries, which operate a regular service between Dubai and Iraq, had been routinely boarded and searched and found to be carrying banned chemicals in 50-gallon drums which did not have official U.N. approval or documentation.
Under U.N. rules a manifest specifying goods to be transported must also carry a letter of approval.
"These goods were transported to Iraq without official documentation. They are prohibited under U.N. sanctions," he said.
He said the navy had photographic evidence and other intelligence about the shipments which he said were conclusive.
Kaspar said he could not comment on the quantity that had been stopped from getting into Iraq or on the volume that had been smuggled through.
He said the firm had been publicly named by Vice Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of Naval Forces Central Command and the Fifth Fleet, at a Maritime Liaison Office industry conference in Dubai last Wednesday.
"When a three-star admiral stands up and names a company among its peers I think it is clear the evidence he has speaks for itself," Kaspar said.
Michael Nye, general manager of Naif Marine Services, a private company registered in the United Arab Emirates, said it was aware of the navy's allegations and of Keating's remarks.
"I have heard about the statement made by (Vice) Admiral Keating but I haven't seen it in writing and until we get this written confirmation we are not prepared to make a comment at this time," he said, speaking to Reuters from Dubai Tuesday.
Nye said he had written to the Navy for clarification on the issue but had not received a reply.
EXPERTS CAUTIOUS
Charles Garth-Whitty of the London-based Royal United Services Institute for Defense Studies said the by-passing of official channels looked "highly suspicious" but said there might be understandable reason, such as cutting down on red tape.
"With dual-use items the fact that they have by-passed the system is wrong but it could be understandable if there are long delays," he said.
He said approval had to go through the U.N. Sanctions Committee and that could take up to seven months.
"Prior to the Gulf War there were some pretty clever routes for equipment into Iraq -- so it comes as no surprise. But the problem with a lot of these chemicals is they do have dual use," said Garth-Whitty, who served as chief inspector of Iraq's chemical weapons destruction program in 1992.
Naif Marine has been operating three ferries, Jebel Ali-1, 2 and 3, out of Dubai to Umm Qasr up to three times a week. The service, which began in 1998, was approved by the U.N. Sanctions Committee.
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