A Kenyan defence ministry spokesman today denied a US navy claim that a Ukrainian ship seized by pirates last week and laden with tanks and military supplies was in fact destined for Sudan and not Kenya. "The Kenyan and Ukrainian governments have all the documents to prove that this cargo belongs to the Kenyan government and not some unknown buyers in Sudan," the defence ministry spokesman Bogita Ongeri said.
Nathan Christensen, spokesman for the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet, had said earlier that the MV Faina - which its cargo of 33 Soviet-type combat tanks and other military hardware - was destined for a client in Sudan. The ship was seized by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean last week on its way to the Kenyan port of Mombasa. Kenya had said from the onset that the shipment was being delievered as part of a deal with Ukraine to update its military hardware.
*AFP