MOSCOW DEMANDS RELEASE OF U.S. DETAINED RUSSIAN SHIP

MOSCOW. Feb 3 (Interfax) - Russia demanded on Thursday that the U.S. navy immediately release the Russian oil tanker "Volgoneft-147" detained by an American warship near the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

Moscow "is taking all necessary steps to find out as soon as possible all the circumstances surrounding the detention of the tanker and to guarantee security for the captain and crew of the vessel," the Foreign Ministry said. "The incident with the Russian tanker is causing bewilderment" in Russia.

The Russian embassies in Washington and Abu Dhabi have already remonstrated with the U.S. and United Arab Emirates governments, the ministry said in a release made available to Interfax.
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-- Possible Impact (posim@hotmail.com), February 03, 2000

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-- Possible Impact (posim@hotmail.com), February 03, 2000.

And Cuba demands release of six year old boy. Good luck.

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), February 03, 2000.

Havanna demands release of U.S. detained Cuban boy. Wait your turn!

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), February 03, 2000.

dinosaur,

:-)

-- obo (susanwater@excite.com), February 03, 2000.

Now if Cuba had nuclear weapons, and a guy at the helm as it were, who has threatened us with them, we might return that damn kid faster, huh?

-- Bill (billclo@blazenet.net), February 04, 2000.

FOCUS- Russia demands release of seized tanker (Adds more Ivanov quotes, ship's owner) By Maria Eismont MOSCOW, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said on Friday Moscow had sent a formal demand to Washington that it immediately release a tanker it seized in the Gulf on suspicion of smuggling Iraqi oil. "Today, through the American embassy in Moscow and the State Department we once more demanded the immediate release of the tanker," Ivanov told television reporters. "We think measures should be taken to block smuggling in line with security council resolutions, but this is not grounds for detaining the tanker for such a long time. "We are prepared to jointly conduct the necessary investigations. But I want to repeat, the tanker must be released and we will continue to insist on this." U.S. navy personnel, operating as part of a multinational patrol enforcing U.N. sanctions on Iraq, boarded the Russian tanker Volgoneft-147 on Wednesday. The Pentagon said the ship would be held because of evidence it contained contraband. Russia has said it may have been carrying legal Iranian fuel oil, rather than Iraqi contraband. The ship's owner told Reuters its crew could soon suffer from a lack of food, water and fuel. "We had a brief talk on phone with the captain and he said their supplies are coming to an end", Vladimir Likuchev, an official at ship-owner Transpetro-Volga, told Reuters on Friday. He said diplomats from Russia's embassy in the United Arab Emirates had been allowed to meet the crew. "We are waiting for the results of the negotiations", he said. He added that the company that chartered the tanker had provided documents saying it contained legal Iranian oil. "I don't understand how they can distinguish Iraqi oil from Iranian," he said. "This is one region -- even the same oilfield, divided by a river." The company also said in a statement it planned to sue for damages. The U.S. Navy-led multinational interception force is charged with policing Gulf waters to prevent the smuggling in and out of Iraq of goods banned by UN sanctions imposed after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Iraq is allowed to sell oil worth $5.26 billion every six months under U.N. supervision to buy food and medicine.

-- Possible Impact (posim@hotmail.com), February 04, 2000.

*RUSSIA'S RIA AGENCY SAYS MOSCOW TO SEND RECONNAISSANCE SHIP TO MEDITERRANEAN MOSCOW, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Russia's RIA news agency quoted the military as saying on Friday that a reconnaissance ship would be sent to the Mediterranean Sea next week in connection with what it said were new NATO moves aimed at Iraq. RIA quoted an unnamed senior military official as saying the Kildin would be sent in response to what it said was a buildup of NATO craft in the Gulf. The dispatch was announced a day after a Russian tanker was seized in the Gulf by the U.S. navy on suspicion of smuggling Iraqi oil.

-- Possible Impact (posim@hotmail.com), February 04, 2000.

One more update...

Oman agrees to take in Russian tanker WIRE:02/04/2000 18:56:00 ET WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - The Gulf state of Oman has agreed to take in the Russian tanker seized by the U.S. Navy in the Gulf on suspicion of smuggling Iraqi oil in defiance of U.N. sanctions, a State Department spokesman said on Friday. The U.S.-led multinational interception force (MIF) has already taken a sample of the fuel oil from the tanker for analysis of its origin, spokesman James Foley said. U.S. Navy personnel, enforcing the ban on unauthorised oil exports by Iraq, boarded the Russian tanker Volgoneft-147 on Wednesday and decided to divert it to a nearby port. "Oman has accepted to receive it for U.N. sanctions enforcement action... It could go into Omani waters and dock at an Omani port over the next day or so," he added. "A sample of the oil from the ship is currently being analysed to determine its origin... We don't yet have a final determination and we would hope to have the results of the analysis by early next week," he said. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright spoke about the tanker on Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who said in public earlier that Russia had sent a formal demand that the United States release the vessel. "She stressed that this is not a bilateral issue but a multilateral enforcement of international law," Foley said. A U.S. official confirmed that the Russians were demanding the release of the tanker but did not challenge the legitimacy of the blockade which the U.S. Navy is enforcing. Russian consular officers spent most of Friday aboard the vessel and were satisfied that the U.S. Navy had treated the Russian crews correctly, Foley said. The ship's owner told Reuters in Moscow that the crew could soon suffer from a lack of food, water and fuel. "We had a brief talk on the phone with the captain and he said their supplies are coming to an end," said Vladimir Likuchev, an official at ship-owner Transpetro-Volga. But a U.S. official said: "The Russians have acknowledged to us that the diversion has proceeded smoothly, that there has been good treatment and cooperation. There have not been any complaints in terms of the human element." "The Russians were able to verify that the treatment and conditions are all correct and satisfactory," he added. The usual procedure if a vessel is found to be carrying smuggled Iraqi oil is to confiscate the cargo, sell it on behalf of the United Nations, and then release the vessel.

-- Possible Impact (posim@hotmail.com), February 04, 2000.