Libya and Iran still suspects in mines probe

Press, 21 August 1984, Page 10

Libya and Iran still suspects in mines probe

NZPA-Reuter Cairo While British, United States, French and Russian minehunters continue an international search for mystery mines in the Red Sea, the Egyptians are still pointing the finger at Libya and Iran. The Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mr Ahmed Esmat Abdel Meguid, told the American magazine “Newsweek” that Egypt still .suspected the two countries. He said the mine blasts began shortly after the' Iranian Parliament Speaker had threatened they would bring the Iran-Iraq war into the Red Sea. Commenting on newspajper reports of a small Libyan ferry which sailed through the Suez Canal last month, shipping sources in Cairo said Egyptian suspicions were apparently aroused because the roll-on, roll-off container ship Ghat made no stops at any port in the Gulf or the Red Sea

during its voyage. It transited the canal on July 6 and sailed back to the Mediterranean two weeks later, docking' at Tripoli on July 22. Pilots at Suez said it was the first time the Ghat had been through. At least 18 commercial vessels have reported explosions in the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez in the last month, but no mines had been found so far. Military sources in Cairo said the laying of mines in the sea was not a sophisticated operation and a roll-on, roll-off ferry would be ideal for the job, with mines attached to rails and dumped overboard. In the French port of Marseilles, maritime authorities said the Ghat was now under repair after being searched by Customs agents. It is owned by the General National Maritime Transport Company of Tripoli, Libya.

French maritime officials said the Ghat arrived on Thursday from Tripoli at Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhone, west of Marseilles, for “normal commercial operations.” Finance Ministry officials in Paris, who oversee all Customs operations, said nothing abnormal was found inside the freighter during an inspection of several hours on Saturday. “Customs agents searched the vessel after rumours suggested it might have been carrying military materiel,” a Ministry official said. “The inspection yielded no results.” After the search, the Ghat was towed to dry dock in Marseilles where it was undergoing repairs, maritime authorities said. They would not specify the nature of the repairs. French television reported that the Ghat had arrived in France to load a shipment of Peugeot vehicles.