NAIROBI, KENYA — This time it's the booty, not the pirates, that everyone's talking about.
And what they're wondering is: Just where were those Russian tanks going?
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Cargo prompts doubts on hijacked ship's destination
Russian tanks aboard were bound for Kenya, that country says. But some say southern Sudan was to get them.
The World
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, October 03, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 45 words Type of Material: Correction
Ukrainian cargo: An article in Tuesday's Section A about the seizure of a ship by pirates off Somalia referred to the military tanks on board as Russian-made. The tanks came from Ukraine. It is still unclear where in the former Soviet Union they were built.
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As additional U.S. warships gathered around a hijacked Ukrainian ship off Somalia, questions persisted Monday about where the vessel's military cargo was destined.
The governments of Kenya and Ukraine say the shipment of 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks, ammunition and spare parts was part of a legal sale contracted last year to supply the Kenyan army.
But U.S. officials, arms experts and maritime officials say the more likely destination was southern Sudan, where the former rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Movement, or SPLM, governs an autonomous region and has been working aggressively over the last three years to transform its ragtag guerrilla army into a professional fighting force.
"We received reports that the cargo was intended for Sudan, so obviously our goal is to maintain watch over the ship while negotiations are taking place," said Lt. Nathan Christensen, spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.
He said "several" U.S. ships had surrounded the hijacked vessel Monday, but no further actions were planned.
Arms experts wondered why Kenya would purchase Russian-made tanks since its previous suppliers have been the United States, Britain and China. Kenya's current tanks are British-built.
"I'm not aware of Kenya using any [former] Soviet bloc weaponry before, so if they are, that's a major shift," said one arms expert in the region who did not want to be identified.
Southern Sudan, by contrast, has been buying Russian-made tanks over the last year, officials said, including nearly 50 T-54 battle tanks. That deal drew attention in February when one shipment was briefly held up at the Kenyan port of Mombasa amid that country's postelection turmoil.
Andrew Mwangura, head of the Seafarers Assistance Program in Kenya, said at least three arms shipments destined for southern Sudan had moved through Mombasa over the last year.
The Kenyan government, however, said Monday that the hijacked cargo was "important military equipment paid for by the Kenyan taxpayer for use by the Kenyan military."
A government spokesman declined to comment on why the government was purchasing Russian-made tanks or how they fit into the country's military strategy.
