Israel Matzav

Russian ship hijacked by... Russia?

The story of the Russian ship Arctic Sea just keeps getting weirder. The ship, which disappeared in July while allegedly carrying timber from Finland to Algeria, but which was more likely carrying missiles for Iran, has been variously reported to have been hijacked by pirates, by Israel, and now by Russia itself.

Admiral Tarmo Kouts, the European Union's rapporteur on piracy, told Time Magazine he believed the Arctic Sea was intercepted by Israel as it carried a secret cargo of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles and X-500 anti-ship missiles to the Middle East.

A Ynet investigation based on a number of Russian, European, and Middle Eastern sources has concluded that the admiral's thesis is not plausible for a number of reasons.

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The Kremlin has so far kept silent on the matter, after having arrested the alleged hijackers on August 18 and charging them with kidnapping and piracy. It has made no comment on reports speculating Israel was behind the deed, and Jerusalem has followed suit.

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Then, two days after the Arctic Sea sailed from a Finnish port where it apparently picked up timber in order to cover up the missiles, a motorboat carrying eight people drew up to the ship and asked to board due to having been lost at sea.

The eight then identified themselves as Swedish police and arrested the crew under gunpoint. The Russian sailors serving on the Arctic Sea said the officers spoke Russian between themselves.

Twelve hours later the ship's crew reported the incident to the Swedish authorities and said the hijackers had impersonated Swedish police. The crew said the hijackers had left the ship but in actuality they remained, holding the crew hostage.

On April 28 [Should be July. CiJ] the British coast guard contacted the ship, and its captain reported everything was fine. The vessel was allowed to continue sailing towards Algeria and shortly afterwards all contact with it was lost.

According to Russian sources the "hijackers", who in actuality were Russian intelligence officers, remained on the ship and reported to their superiors that they had found the missiles on board. On August 12 Russia announced it had sent naval officers to rescue the vessel and its crew.

The sources say the period of time between the hijacking and the Russian rescue mission was due to the Kremlin's desire to capture the ship away from the eyes of the media, in order to avoid an embarrassing incident that may have harmed its relations with Iran and Algeria.

But Russia also desired to avoid an incident with Israel and the US, the sources say. Four years ago the country signed a deal with the two allied nations promising to refrain from transferring "destabilizing" arms to Syria or Tehran. The S-300 missiles were specifically included in the accord.

On August 18 Russian commando forces overtook the ship and arrested the hijackers. Pictures released to the press show Russian soldiers forcing the eight men harshly onto land. The cargo was taken to an undisclosed location in Russia by eight large cargo planes immediately after the incident was made public.

If these missiles were headed for Iran, it sounds like the Russians are at least trying to make it look like they weren't supposed to be headed there. Did someone steal the missiles on the Iranians' behalf? Hmmm.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:05 PM