Int'l team to probe Russian ship hijacking

Team made of reps from five European countries will investigate disappearance of 'Arctic Sea' vessel

Olga Gouresky

Published: 09.04.09, 15:53 / Israel News

A Russian news agency reported that a special investigation team, including representatives from five European countries, plans to probe the hijacking of the Russian vessel 'The Arctic Sea'.

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An inquiry team set up in Moscow reported that the countries taking part in the investigation are Malta, Switzerland, Finland, Estonia and Latvia.

Representatives of Finland, Switzerland and Estonia, who are running a criminal investigation into the matter, met in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the matter.

The preliminary investigation revealed that eight citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Russia took over the ship, and it was freed by Russian navy vessels without a single shot being fired.

However, many sources have reported in recent weeks that Russia's official version of the incident may not be entirely true.

According to recent reports it seems the Kremlin has been working hard to quiet down publications on the

hijacking, and Ynet reported on Wednesday that in actuality Russian secret agents hijacked the ship after discovering it held "destabilizing" arms bound for Iran or Syria.

But some sources insisted the Mossad was the culprit. Admiral Tarmo Kouts, the European Union's rapporteur on piracy, told Time Magazine he believed the Arctic Sea was intercepted by Israel as it carried a secret cargo of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles and X-500 anti-ship missiles to the Middle East.

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