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N Korean ship 'linked to Israel's strike
on Syria'
Tim Butcher
London
Telegraph
Tuesday September 18, 2007
A suspicious North
Korean freighter that re-flagged itself as South Korean before
off-loading an unknown cargo at the Syrian port of Tartous is
at the centre of efforts today to investigate Israel's recent
airstrike on Syria.
An Israeli on-line data analyst, Ronen Solomon, found an internet
trace for the 1,700-tonne cargo ship, Al Hamed, which showed the
vessel started to off-load what Syrian officials categorised as
"cement" on Sept 3.
This was three days before Israeli jets attacked a site in the
north eastern desert of Syria, not far from its border with Iraq.
Since leaving Tartous, one of Syria's main ports on the Mediterranean,
the ship's trace has disappeared and it is not known whether western
intelligence agencies are tracking the vessel.
"I became suspicious after the first reports from Syria
about the attack so I traced all traffic into Syrian ports in
the days prior to the incident," Mr Solomon said.
(Article continues below)
"There were five ships but the interesting one was the one
with a connection to North Korea - the Al Hamed."
He said he cross-referred to other maritime databases to establish
the ship was not a regular visitor to the Mediterranean but had
come through the Suez Canal in late June.
It had registered itself for the Suez transit as a South Korean
vessel but Mr Solomon said this was standard procedure for North
Korean ships seeking to avoid international constraints on North
Korea.
Records showed the vessel docked at Tartous on July 28 before
going back to sea and then returning to the port on Sept 3. "Since
then there is no trace so I have no idea if she has gone up into
the Black Sea or is still in the Mediterranean or whatever,"
Mr Solomon said.
Israel has not given any details on the operation.
Last week, US officials suggested that North Korea had sought
to export some of its nuclear technology and equipment to Syria
but the Israelis had been tipped off, so they arranged a pre-emptive
strike on a sensitive shipment.
Mr Solomon said the Al Hamed was owned by a North Korean business
until a few months ago when ownership changed hands to an as yet
unidentified new owner.
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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