Arms ship heading for Syria

A RUSSIAN ship, allegedly carrying tons of weapons, made a dash for Syria after Cypriot officials allowed it to weigh anchor, Turkish officials said yesterday.

The ship had made an unscheduled stop in Cypriot waters on Tuesday, technically violating a European Union embargo on arms shipments to Syria, which has killed thousands in a crackdown on dissent.

Cypriot officials only allowed the ship to leave on Wednesday after the owners said it would only visit Turkey, rather than stopping also in Syria.

But Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal – citing information from the Turkish navy – said the ship had docked yesterday at the Syrian port of Tartus, which Russian warships use as a resupply stop.

The St Vincent and Grenadines-flagged ship, the Chariot, owned by St Petersburg-based Westberg, had initially dropped anchor off the southern Cypriot port of Limassol due to high seas, drawing the attention of local officials who boarded to examine its cargo.

Cyprus state radio said the vessel was carrying “tens of tons of munitions” while Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted a Westberg spokesman as saying the Chariot was ferrying cargo owned by Russia’s state arms trader Rosoboronexport.

Turkey has imposed a trade and arms embargo on president Bashar al-Assad’s Syria.