I f you ever wondered what happens to cargo seized as violations of UN embargoes,
the answer appears to be : finders keepers.
The Cambodian government has taken delivery of about 310 tones of ammunition
seized in March 1993 by the Seychelles navy from a ship destined for Somalia in
violation of a UN-imposed embargo, according to Cambodian military officials and
foreign defense analysts.
The Cambodians later bought the ammunition in a deal with the Seychelles'
government. It includes heavy, infantry and anti-riot weapons, machine guns and
a variety of Soviet-style ammunition from 7.62mm to 106mm.
The Seychelles navy seized the ship Malo off the coast of Somalia and
confiscated about 400 tonnes of ammunition.
About 90 tonnes was later sold to Rwanda and Zaire; most of the rest was sold
to Cambodia along with some heavy weapons from separate Seychellian stock. The
value of the ammunition was approximately 18 million francs, according to
military intelligence officials, and was believed sold for under two million
francs.
The agreement between the two governments was finalized in Dec 1994 and a
ship owned by Seychellian company Island Development Company, 5 Juin, left
Victoria port in the Seychelles for Cambodia on Dec 17 or 18.
It was not known where the seized cargo originated from.
