Posted on 04/04/2003 11:06:59 AM PST by Calpernia
LONDON (Reuters) - The United States Navy said Friday it was searching for two Iraqi naval vessels that could be trying to lay mines "anywhere" in the Gulf.
In a notice to merchant shipping seen by Reuters, the U.S. Fifth Fleet's Maritime Liaison Office based in Bahrain said coalition forces were hunting two vessels, the "Al Shorook" and the "Al Fateh al Mobeen."
The enormous U.S.-British naval presence in the Gulf has so far deterred any attacks on either military or merchant shipping in the region, with most mine-sweeping operations confined to the northern Gulf and Iraq (news - web sites)'s waterways.
But Friday's disclosure is the first time an explicit mine threat has been publicly identified in the wider Gulf, evoking memories of the attack on the oil tanker the Limburg in the Gulf off Yemen last October.
It said the vessels, which remain at large, could be towing a barge or barges which could be used to deploy mines.
"A barge loaded with a large number of mines and modified to deploy them was recently captured in the Khor Abd Allah waterway," the statement to the maritime industry said.
Pictures of the vessels were released to the wider maritime community and can be viewed on the Maritime Liaison Office's Web site (www.nsa.bahrain.navy.mil). One of the vessels has the word "Pilot" stenciled across its hull.
The Maritime office said it was seeking help from merchant shipping in the area to track down the vessels.
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