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Feb 6, 2000 - 05:32 PM

Cohen Says Tests Confirm Russian Ship Carrying Iraqi Oil By Robert Burns The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - Tests confirm a Russian tanker seized by the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf was carrying Iraqi oil in violation of the U.N. economic embargo, Defense Secretary William Cohen said Sunday. The Volga-Neft-147 was being taken to Muscat, the capital of Oman, and the Omani government will determine the fate of the merchant vessel and its crew, Cohen told reporters while flying back from Germany, where he attended a conference on European security.

Cohen also disclosed that an Iraqi naval officer was on board the ship when it was seized by U.S. Navy SEAL commandos. The Russian government had insisted the oil was from Iran, not Iraq.

The tests were completed Sunday on samples of oil from the tanker that was seized Wednesday on suspicions it was carrying Iraqi oil.

"They do reveal that the oil was from Iraq," Cohen said. "The government of Oman will make a determination as to what they will do with the ship itself. That's up to the Omanis at this point."

He said the Russians were informed of results of the tests but was unaware of any immediate response from Moscow.

Under normal procedure, the contraband would be sold and the profits used partly to offset the costs of the nation that agrees to take the vessel and partly to pay for the maritime force operation, U.S. officials have said.

Asked what effect the development might have on U.S.-Russian ties, Cohen said: "I don't think it will have any impact on relations."

Cohen also said the fleet of ships used to enforce the oil embargo against Iraq has "intensified" its patrols since the Russian tanker was seized. He offered no details. His spokesman, Kenneth Bacon, said that at least one ship had been added to the multinational fleet used to patrol the Gulf.

Cohen pointed out that the Russian tanker was privately owned, and not the property of the government. Moscow had protested the seizure and demanded the vessel's release.

The State Department referred all questions to the Pentagon. Calls to the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow went unanswered.

When the tanker was confronted in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, it ignored U.S. Navy signals to halt, so armed Navy SEALs were dispatched by helicopter to board and seize the vessel, the Pentagon said Saturday.

U.S. officials had said earlier that the Russian crew offered no resistance to being boarded Wednesday and cooperated with U.S. Navy personnel involved.

Once the SEALs got on board, the Russian crew cooperated, and no shots were fired, a Pentagon official said Saturday.

The U.S. ship was part of a multinational maritime interception force that enforces the 9-year-old U.N. embargo against Iraq.

Russia, which maintained that the oil was from Iran, long has supported steps that would lead to the eventual lifting of the U.N. economic embargo against Iraq.

The Clinton administration has insisted on full Iraqi compliance with the U.N. Security Council resolutions, including a requirement Iraq not possess weapons of mass destruction.

Washington said it merely was merely enforcing the embargo against Iraq in ordering the seizure.

Iraq is banned from most international commerce but is allowed to export up to $5.2 billion in oil every six months in order to buy food, medicine and other essentials for its people, and spare parts for its oil industry.

Despite the effort to enforce the U.N. sanctions, the State Department said last week that illicit oil exports from Iraq average 100,000 barrels a day, compared with 50,000 barrels in 1998, when oil prices were much lower.

AP-ES-02-06-00 1727EST

-- (cashtradr@aol.com), February 06, 2000

Answers

Nuke 'em!!

(just kidding)

At the very least we should cut off all their monetary aid.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), February 06, 2000.

That's one less ship delivering oil for a while. I can confidently say it didn't have anything to do with Y2K, however someone is short a lot of product. I don't think Lloyds of London will be paying on this one.

-- Guy Daley (guydaley@bwn.net), February 06, 2000.

Folks,

Uh...I don't get it. Why would Russia be smuggling Iraqi oil? As one of the major producers of the stuff, wouldn't it just be easier to "flood" the market with their own Russian crude?

Unless of course, they can't pump or refine it...

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Don

-- Shimoda (enlighten@me.com), February 06, 2000.

Saddam and his cronies are long time comrades with the Kremlin. Having an Iraqi naval officer onboard is a curious twist. I wonder what his reason was for being assigned to this ship.

-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), February 06, 2000.

Shimoda .... The Russians are stockpiling oil, wheat, gold and other vital products of war . We give them wheat, money and all the help they need to defeat us . THIS is Klintoons foreign policy at work !!! Where have you been for the last 7 years ? Watching looney toons ? The first 300 million we gave them to reduce nuke missles was spent building TWO underground subways from Moscow to an airfield 30 MILES outside Moscow for politbureau members and others of the communist party to escape to the Ural underground city that is as large as Washington D.C. . In the fall of '97 , a congressman said BOLDLY on the net that " this would be investigated !" Haven't heard a wimper yet ; have you ??? Eagle P.S Check it out ... IT'S a FACT !!!

-- Hal Walker (e999eagle@FREEWWWEB.COM), February 07, 2000.

Hal wrote:

"Shimoda .... The Russians are stockpiling oil, wheat, gold and other vital products of war . We give them wheat, money and all the help they need to defeat us . THIS is Klintoons foreign policy at work !!! Where have you been for the last 7 years ? Watching looney toons ? The first 300 million we gave them to reduce nuke missles was spent building TWO underground subways from Moscow to an airfield 30 MILES outside Moscow for politbureau members and others of the communist party to escape to the Ural underground city that is as large as Washington D.C. . In the fall of '97 , a congressman said BOLDLY on the net that ' this would be investigated !' Haven't heard a wimper yet ; have you ??? Eagle P.S Check it out ... IT'S a FACT !!!

-- Hal Walker (e999eagle@FREEWWWEB.COM), February 07, 2000."

Yo Hal,

Careful dude, you sound like you're gonna break a blood vessel.

Haven't been watching nuthin' on the tube for 10 years now; threw it out in 1990. Instead, took care of my dad who did break a blood vessel, and ended up 98% brain damaged as a result. Stress, the doctor said. Mom died a year before he did, from Parkinson's.

I just turned 33, to give you an idea of how I spent my 20s.

What did you do in your 20s? Ask folks if they were watching Looney toons, instead of becoming informed?

I did read a lot, in between changing my parent's diapers and feeding them through tubes that went directly into their stomachs(their choice, BTW). Enough to realize that things were going down the tubes(as my dad had feared, and then allowed his fears to main and kill him), and that I might want to do something about it.

Hence, I prepped.

In other words, cool it with the insulting, patronizing accusations of my lack of political awareness. I find such banter distasteful and inappropriate on this forum.

I am politically aware enough to see that there is something very wrong; I don't need to dwell on who has an underground city and who doesn't to figure this out. The fact that we spend tremendous amounts on wasteful governmental projects for other countries while our own folks starve is enough for me.

MHO: I seriously doubt that the Russian government is stockpiling anything for the citizenry. Talking to my friends there, the more likely scenario is that a few very well connected and wealthy people are taking the lion's share of the plunder and liquidating it on the European market. A very select few will reap the rewards while the masses will endure great hardship. Sounds kinda like here, don't it?

I'm sure that there is a tremendous amount of military spending by the Russian government, and that a good deal of aid sent to them has been turned into weapons pointed at us. I also do not think they will defeat us with this weaponry; we've also been building up as well with new and creative means of high-tech destruction. If this weaponry is used, I think we'll probably end up obliterating each other. There can be no winners in this sort of war. None of what has been happening makes any sense; it is totally insane. Perhaps we fund a Russian military build up to make sure there is a balance of power, so the weaker country is not panicked into taking down the stronger country by launching a first strike? Who knows.

As to stockpiling fuel, I can agree; the Russians are probably stockpiling their own fuel by not pumping it, and by burning their imported supplies during "peacetime." My dad used to say that it was always better to use imported fuel as much as you could; that way during a war, you would have more of your locally produced fuel avalilable(I wrote about this in an earlier post). I just find it odd that the Russians are smuggling it, when they could just as easily buy it elsewhere(with money from foreign aid, perhaps?).

On this underground city(I had a friend that a few years back illegally went down into the old Communist one built years ago, BTW; said that it would not and could not function in the state of disrepair that it was in) you also say, "Check it out ... IT'S a FACT !!!" Got a link, or a title to an article that I can get at the library so I can "check it out?"

Anyone else wanna go into the smuggling issue without being nasty about it?

Thanks,

Don

-- Shimoda (enlighten@me.com), February 07, 2000.