SPACE WIRE
Yemen demands return of seized North Korean missiles
SANAA (AFP) Dec 11, 2002
Yemen admitted Wednesday it had ordered a load of Scud missiles from North Korea and demanded the return of the arms seized in the Arabian Sea by Spanish warships in a US-led operation.

Foreign Minister Abu Baker Abdullah al-Kurbi called Washington's ambassador Edmund Hull to his office in the capital Sanaa and handed over a letter of strong protest, the official SABA news agency reported.

"These weapons were ordered for defensive purposes and will not fall into the hands of a third party," the letter said.

"Yemen has no hostile intent against anyone at all, and the order of these weapons does not threaten world peace or the security of anyone."

The discovery spurred anger from Washington and London, which said it would protest to North Korea while demanding an "urgent explanation" from Yemen, an alleged center of "terrorist" activity.

Two Spanish naval vessels intercepted the So San commercial vessel Monday in the Arabian Sea near Yemen, discovering aboard 15 complete Scud missiles fitted with highly explosive conventional warheads, and 23 capsules of rocket fuel.

A multinational team found the Scud missiles -- the same type used by Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War to attack Israel and Saudi Arabia -- hidden beneath a consignment of cement.

Yemen's letter of protest formally demanded the release of the missiles to Sanaa, arguing that the cargo was "part of previous orders made a long time ago".

A similar letter was addressed to the Spanish government, SABA said, in which Madrid was warned that the seizure of the Scuds "does not serve relations between the two countries."

Spanish Defense Minister Federico Trillo said 84 drums of unidentified chemicals were also found aboard the So San.

The vessel was intercepted off the island of Socotra, and was not flying any flag but was registered in Phnom Penh, he said, adding that its last port of call was in China.

The Spanish warships had been patrolling in the area as part of a US-led multinational force conducting anti-terrorist activities.

The White House sought to temper its reaction, with spokesman Scott McClellan saying that Sanaa "has been a friend and partner in the global war on terrorism" sparked by the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

"The indications are that the ship was destined for Yemen, and we are now discussing with Yemen what the next steps to take are," said McClellan, who firmly defended the high seas raid.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who was visiting the Red Sea state of Djibouti, earlier renewed his government's condemnation of North Korea in the wake of the Spanish navy's discovery.

"North Korea doesn't like to hear me say it but they continue to be the largest proliferator of missiles and ballistic missile technology on the face of the earth," Rumsfeld told reporters after meeting President Ismael Omar Guelleh in Djibouti.

"They are putting in the hands of many countries technology and capabilities which have the potential for destroying hundreds of thousands of people," Rumsfeld said on the steps of Guelleh's seaside residence.

The current US administration has made such accusations on several occasions.

Last August Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh confirmed that Sanaa had bought and received Scuds from Pyongyang and insisted it had the right to do so.

Yemen has been targeted by Washington as a reported hiding place for terrorist cells of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

In 2000, 17 US sailors were killed in a suicide attack on the USS Cole in Aden.

US military advisers are working in the Gulf state under a bilateral agreement with the country's government.

The So San had been under surveillance by US intelligence since it left North Korea, according to a CNN report.

The Pentagon late Tuesday refused to provide further details of the ship's interception.

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