Posted on 06/26/2003 7:43:48 AM PDT by mark502inf
ATHENS, Greece -- The captain of a Sudan-bound ship appeared before a Greek magistrate on Wednesday (25 June) to answer questions about a huge cargo of explosives that has raised fears of a terrorist plot. The hearing is specifically about accusations that captain Anatoliy Baltak and his crew entered Greek territorial waters without informing officials of the 680-tonne load of explosives and detonators. Pavlos Apostolidis, the head of Greece's intelligence service, told a local radio station on Tuesday that investigators were looking for links to al-Qaeda, pointing to irregularities in the ship's manifest and discrepancies in the testimony of the crew.
Tirana, meanwhile, flatly denies media speculation that the ship came from Albania. Three cabinet ministries issued a joint statement insisting Albania had nothing to do with it. (AP - 25/06/03; AP, AFP, ATA, Albanian news - 24/06/03)
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