Nigeria: Shipper Confirms Weapons Came From Iran

LAGOS, Nigeria -- A weapons cache containing artillery rockets seized by Nigerian security agents at the West African nation's busiest port originally came from Iran, an international shipping company said Saturday.

The confirmation by CMA CGM, an international cargo shipper based in France, comes after Israeli officials accused Iran of trying to sneak the shipment into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. By unloading the weapons in Nigeria, it suggests Iran sought to perhaps truck the weapons through Africa to slide around an embargo now in place in Gaza.

The MV CMA CGM Everest picked up the 13 shipping containers from Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran, the company said. The shipment had been labeled as containing "packages of glass wool and pallets of stone."

"The shipment in question was booked as a 'shippers-owned container' and supplied, loaded and sealed by the shipper, an Iranian trader who does not appear on any forbidden persons listing," CMA CGM's statement read. "The containers were ... discharged in Lagos in July and transferred to a customs-bonded depot where they have remained with all seals untouched and unbroken."

The shipment sat untouched for weeks, a common occurrence in Lagos' busy and chaotic Apapa Port. Last week, the Iranian shipper filed a request for the containers to be picked up again and this time shipped to the West African nation of Gambia, CMA CGM said.

Agents with Nigeria's State Security Service discovered the weapons Tuesday. Journalists who were allowed to view the weapons on Wednesday saw 107 mm rockets, rifle rounds and other items labeled in English. Authorities said the shipment also contained grenades, explosives and possibly rocket launchers, but journalists did not see them.

In the hands of highly trained troops, the 107 mm artillery rockets can accurately hit targets more than 5 miles (8.5 kilometers) away, killing everything within about 40 feet (12 meters). Fighters in Afghanistan and Iraq have used similar rockets against U.S. troops.

China, the United States, and Russia manufacture versions of the rocket, as does Iran -- which calls the weapon a Katyusha rocket. In 2006, the Islamic militant group Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 Katyusha rockets across Israel's northern border, some of which fell as far as 55 miles (90 kilometers) inside Israel.

The weapons seizure comes as Nigeria, an OPEC-member nation that is one of the top crude oil suppliers to the U.S., approaches what could be a highly contested presidential election next year. Security remains a concern in Nigeria as it continues to see targeted killings allegedly committed by a radical Islamic sect in the north and the threat of new violence in its oil-rich southern delta.

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UK Releases Secret File on Weapons Scientist Death

LONDON-- The British government Friday released a formerly secret autopsy report in an attempt to end speculation that the 2003 death of a government weapons scientist at the center of a controversy over the Iraq War was not a suicide.

The lengthy report reaffirms that David Kelly slit his wrist after he was exposed as the source of a British Broadcasting Corp. report that accused then Prime Minister Tony Blair's office of "sexing up" prewar intelligence to justify the 2003 invasion.

Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said on Friday he was releasing the documents to end speculation over Kelly's death. Some government critics have suggested that Kelly was silenced to prevent him from speaking out.

Clarke said the release was "in the interests of maintaining public confidence" even though it was likely to cause distress for Kelly's family. A lawyer representing Kelly's family said there would be no response.

The BBC report was a major embarrassment for Blair, who had argued that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein posed a substantial threat to Britain's national security because he possessed weapons of mass destruction -- an assertion that later proved false.

Kelly's body was found in a field on July 18, 2003, after he had been reported missing by relatives. The autopsy report by pathologist Nicholas Hunt said Kelly had suffered wounds that appeared to be self-inflicted. He found no sign of foul play or any indication of a struggle.

A post-mortem examination found "a series of incised wounds of varying depth running across the front of the left wrist and slightly onto the thumb side of that wrist," he said. The pathologist said Kelly's ulnar artery had been completely severed, causing significant loss of blood.

"The orientation and arrangement of the wounds over the left wrist are typical of self-inflicted injury," Hunt said. "Also typical of this is the presence of small so-called tentative or 'hesitation' marks."

It appeared Kelly had also taken a large number of painkillers, the report said.
Kelly's death had earlier prompted a major inquiry that cleared the government of any involvement in his demise.

In May 2003, the BBC ran the story quoting an anonymous official -- later identified as Kelly -- as saying Blair's office had insisted on including in a September 2002 dossier a claim that Iraq could deploy some chemical and biological weapons on 45 minutes' notice, despite intelligence experts' doubts.

Blair's office furiously denied the charge, demanding an apology and engaging in a months-long public battle with the BBC. Kelly approached his bosses at the Ministry of Defense, telling them he had met with the BBC's reporters, but saying he did not recognize his comments in the central claims and believed he was not the main source of the piece.

He was thrust into the spotlight after ministry officials decided to confirm his name to reporters who guessed it.

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Obama Administration to Sell $60B in Weapons to Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration notified Congress on Wednesday that it plans to sell up to $60 billion in advanced weaponry to Saudi Arabia in one of the largest-ever single U.S. arms sales, a deal intended to counter the rising influence of Iran.

State Department and Pentagon officials told lawmakers that the sales that will include 84 new F-15 fighter jets, upgrades to 70 existing Saudi F-15s, 190 helicopters and a wide array of missiles, bombs and delivery systems, as well as accessories such as night-vision goggles and radar warning systems.

The sale, first revealed in September, has been in the works for months and is designed to strengthen the defense forces of Saudi Arabia, a longtime U.S. ally, and counter Iran as a regional power in the Persian Gulf.

"This proposed sale has tremendous significance from a strategic regional perspective," said Andrew Shapiro, the assistant secretary of state for political and military affairs who announced the deal.

"It will send a strong message to countries in the region that we are committed to support the security of our key partners and allies in the Arabian Gulf and broader Middle East," Shapiro told reporters. "And it will enhance Saudi Arabia's ability to deter and defend against threats to its borders and to its oil infrastructure, which is critical to our economic interests."

Congress has 30 days to block the deal, but the officials said they did not expect significant opposition despite concerns by some lawmakers' about the impact the sales might have on Israel's security.

Shapiro and Alexander Vershbow, the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, said the sales would not affect Israel's qualitative military edge in the Middle East and that Israel is not expected to object.

Israeli officials have said previously that they were not pleased with the proposed sales but would not try to prevent them.

Iran is now seen by Israel, the Gulf Arab states and the West as a significant and unpredictable threat that has changed the old calculus of the region's balance of power. The U.S. is realigning its defense policies in the Persian Gulf as Iran improves the range and accuracy of missiles and other weapons that could threaten Israel or U.S. allies in Europe.

Vershbow said the new and upgraded F-15s would be key to accelerating defense cooperation between the United States and Saudi Arabia as it would standardize the fleet of the Saudi Air Force and make it more compatible with that of the U.S. and other Gulf allies.

The helicopters, including Apaches, Black Hawks and Little Birds attack choppers, will give Saudi authorities greater ability to protect borders along with military installations and oil facilities.

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Judge dismisses Drew Peterson weapons charge

Published October 01, 2010

| Associated Press

JOLIET, Ill. –  A judge has dismissed a felony weapons charge against former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson.

Peterson was charged with possession of an illegal firearm after authorities learned he gave a short-barreled rifle to his son for safe keeping.

Peterson is awaiting trial in the 2004 death of his third wife Kathleen Savio. He is also a suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife Stacy Peterson. He has denied wrongdoing.

At Friday's hearing, Will County Judge Richard Schoenstedt said prosecutors didn't show that Peterson couldn't own the weapon that was seized in November 2007. It is the second time the judge has thrown out the charge.

Defense attorney Joel Brodsky says it was the right decision to make.

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