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Monday, June 28, 2010
Pakistan blasts India for stopping cargo ship* FO says ship carrying UN cargo for Pakistan, Bangladesh
* Indian police say arms on ship may be from UN missionISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strongly reacted to the seizing of a ship by India carrying United Nations cargo for Pakistan and Bangladesh, which was being used by UN peacekeeping missions.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said that so far Pakistan has not been conveyed anything officially about the stopping of the cargo ship. However, he said the cargo was coming from Liberia and was in the use of UN peacekeeping missions.
He said that the UN cargo includes armoured personnel carriers (APCs) destined for many countries including Pakistan and Bangladesh. “The ship left Bangladesh after off-loading their stuff and was also to anchor at Pakistan to off-load our consignment,” he said, adding, there was nothing out of the ordinary in this ship.
In Kolkata, West Bengal Police Director General Bhupinder Singh told AFP that the Karachi-bound ship might have been carrying decommissioned weaponry from a UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia. The vessel was brought to the port of Kolkata in West Bengal state from Diamond Harbour, 50 kilometres south of the city.
“It seems the military hardware was being de-inducted and sent back as three separate consignments to Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan,” he said. After checking the cargo, Indian intelligence officials have contacted UN peacekeeping officials in New York to obtain detailed information about the ship, said Surojit Karpurokayastha, the inspector general of the West Bengal Police. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk