Did Israel and Russia have secret meeting?

When looking for information on the Arctic Sea saga, I ran across an article claiming that on Sept. 10, 2009, the Prime Minister of Israel made a secret trip to Russia.

From Russia Today

10 September, 2009, 13:16

Russia’s Kommersant business daily has shared insider information from an unnamed source in the Kremlin that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow incognito to talk on Russia’s arms contracts with Iran and Syria.

....several media sources referred to a high-ranking official of the Israeli government who claimed that Netanyahu really did visit Moscow. The source, though, refused to tell whom exactly Israeli PM met in Russia.

Israeli media was quick to expose that the Israeli PM was on a secret mission to Moscow to talk about Russia’s arms contracts with Iran and Syria or, more specifically, the possible delivery of air defense S-300 missile infrastructure to Iran.

The recent saga of the Arctic Sea bulk carrier, a vessel with a Russian crew, hijacked in the Baltic Sea, has sparked a conspiracy theory about Russia covertly delivering S-300 missile infrastructure to Iran.

And then, two weeks later Iran (From the New York Times)

.....sends a cryptic letter describing a small “pilot” nuclear facility that the country had never before declared.

The Americans were surprised by the letter, but they were angry about what it did not say. American intelligence had come across the hidden tunnel complex years earlier, and the advisers believed the situation was far more ominous than the Iranians were letting on.

The timing is such that I really think the two must be somehow linked.

Vessel Arctic Sea still held by Russians

The Arctic Sea saga is not over. It hasn't been in the press much, but Tradewinds has an update today.

Russian authorities had apparently planned to hand the ship back to its owner in Las Palmas last week but have not done so. The Spanish port’s captain has also refused permission for the ship to berth saying the presence of Russian military personnel onboard compromised its existence as a merchant vessel.

The Solchart representative who had flown to Las Palmas with a view to once again assuming control of the ship arrived back in Helsinki on Thursday night after a second fruitless journey within the last few weeks.

The developments led Matveev to cry foul over the tactics of the Russian Investigative Committee (RIC) which has been conducting an investigation into the ship’s true cargo and events surrounding its apparent hijacking.

“Russia has stolen the ship from us and stolen the cargo from the timber industry.” The cargo of sawn timber was due to be discharged at an Algerian port in early August.

“And now they are towing it again to nowhere,” said Matveev who has been tracking the ship and contends it is on the move northwards from the Canary Islands.

Matveev said he has asked the RIC why they continue to occupy the ship and described their response as laughable.

“They told me they are there to secure the ship again from further hijackings from Spain and Africa.

“I told them we have seven other ships; would you like to secure them as well?” he mocked.

The Arctic Sea's series of misadventures and the heavy-handed nature of Russia’s ‘rescue’ mission have sparked theories that it may in fact have been ferrying a weapons cargo, possibly to Iran or Syria.

Eight suspects apparently detained onboard have been charged in Moscow with piracy and armed hijacking.

There is something really fishy about this whole thing, and I would not be surprised if the recent decree against Iran is somehow mixed up in all this.

I hope Tom Clancy is tracking this story, as if someone can get to the true story behind this, it would be a good read.

click here for link to article

Owner of Arctic Sea is bankrupt

From Tradewinds

In a statement in both Russian and English on Solchart’s website, Matveev wrote that the 1992-built ship’s owner went bankrupt after 17 August, the day the ship was intercepted by the Russian Navy off Cape Verde after a three week-long series of misadventures. (The announcement in English incorrectly reports that the company went bankrupt after 17 September.)

click here for link to complete article

Update- Arctic Sea 09/09/2009

I doubt we will ever know the truth as to what is onboard the Arctic Sea.
The Russian minister states

The information that there were S-300 missiles aboard the Arctic Sea is absolutely not true. Russia will launch an inspection of that ship as soon as possible, and I assure you we will keep it as transparent as possible so that everyone will be able to see that the rumors are false,” assured journalists the Russian foreign minister at a news conference in Moscow on Tuesday.

Since then, a forensic team from Russia’s Investigative Committee of the General Prosecutor’s Office has carried out a detailed inspection of the Arctic Sea’s cargo bay.

Yea, well, apparently there weren't any reporters allowed to witness this. Maybe the word "transparent" should not have been used.

Especially since

“Arctic Sea is now in open sea.

LOL

Investigators have inspected its cargo in detail. There’s only timber and sawn wood. Forensic experts found no cargo but the one declared so far,” Vladimir Markin, the committee’s spokesman, told the media.

He added that the team is to go on with its work on on board for several days.

Oh this is just laughable. This kind of work is not performed at sea. And why were they going to take it to some port in the middle of nowhere to do this inspection?

Little wonder why.

In the meantime, the reporter who broke the story thought it best to leave Russia

Maritime reporter Mikhail Voitenko, who fled Russia after receiving threats for his suggestions about the cargo of the hijacked merchant vessel Arctic Sea, has moved to Bangkok from Istanbul.

On Friday, the editor of the online Maritime Bulletin-Sovfrakht told CNN the cargo ship might have been involved in “some secret kind of shipment”.

“I don't think that this was a criminal cargo or drugs. I think it's something more important or dangerous,” Voitenko said.

Arctic Sea - inteview by Spiegel

The German publication Der Spiegel interviewed the Russian Envoy, as to the hijacking and capture of the Arctic Sea.

It has been translated into English for their on-line publication.

Russian Envoy Talks About Arctic Sea Hijacking

'We Found Nothing Conspicuous on Board'

In an interview with SPIEGEL, Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, 45, says rumors surrounding the cargo of the hijacked freighter Arctic Sea stem from "Russophobia" and that the case highlights the need for close cooperation to stop piracy between Moscow and NATO.

click here for link

Arctic Sea- carrying missiles to Iran?

Wow, that was first posted here by a commenter a few days ago.

Now, Time Magazine has an article alleging the same thing. (well, actually they are just saying destined for the mid-east)

The highest-ranking official to put forward this version of events is the European Union's rapporteur on piracy and a former commander of the Estonian armed forces, Admiral Tarmo Kouts. In an interview with TIME, he says only a shipment of missiles could account for Russia's bizarre behavior throughout the monthlong saga. "There is the idea that there were missiles aboard, and one can't explain this situation in any other way," he says. "As a sailor with years of experience, I can tell you that the official versions are not realistic."

Kouts says an Israeli interception of the cargo is the most likely explanation. But this theory, which some Russian analysts put forward in the days after the Arctic Sea was rescued and which Kouts agreed with in his interview with TIME, has been vehemently denied by Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitri Rogozin, who says Kouts should stop "running his mouth."

click here for link to complete article

Comments regarding Arctic Sea

This comment was posted regarding Arctic Sea

Quite a few Mossad operations involved recruiting (or posing as) foreigners to do the work.
Case in point, the Cherbourg Project.
The Israeli agents masqueraded as Norwegians to take the boats.

I have no idea regarding this, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out, if, the truth is ever known.

Arctic Sea - saga continues

From Russia Today

“We do not rule out that the ship might have been carrying something other than timber. So we had to detain part of the crew – in order to find out if anyone was involved in the hijacking,” Bastrykin told journalists.

click here for link to article

Was Israel involved with Arctic Sea?

Oh my, this is sounding like a spy novel.

A comment posted on this blog

Anonymous said...

I've heard rumours that the vessel was carrying weapons from Russia to Iran, and that the 'pirates' were recruited by the Mossad (Israeli secret service) to interrupt the trade.
Source:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1249418676474&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Which, sends us here

Did Mossad hijack Russian ship to stop Iran arms shipment?

The Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported over the weekend that the vessel Arctic Sea had been carrying x-55 cruise missiles and S300 anti-aircraft rockets hidden in secret compartments among its cargo of timber and sawdust.

Pravda's Web site reported that the ship had been smuggling cruise missiles to Iran on a well-worn path via Algeria, but a "power that has relations with Ukraine" had prevented this. Novaya Gazeta reported that the hijackers had been operating on behalf of the Mossad. It also reported that President Shimon Peres's visit to Moscow the day after the Russians recaptured the vessel had been motivated by an urgent request to his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, to refrain from arming Iran.

Israeli officials dismissed the reports as "classic conspiracy theories," but defense experts noted that Israel has a record of seizing foreign vessels carrying arms to its enemies.

"This appears as the classic conspiracy theory. I didn't see any evidence for it and so we aren't going to comment," said Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.

click here for link

Arctic Sea mystery continues

This is like something out of a spy novel, from the cold war era.

As mentioned earlier, there is suspicion by some that the Arctic Sea was carrying some illicit cargo - perhaps something nuclear in nature.

After the Russian Navy found the Arctic Sea, and arrested the hijackers and I guess, some of the crew, they are taking the ship to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

The manager of the ship doesn't know what is going on, and has issued an appeal to the Russians to explain.

From Tradewinds

The Russian director of the Helsinki-based company made an impassioned appeal “to all officials powers” on Friday to come clean on the current situation regarding the 4,700-dwt ship and its 15 Russian crew members.

Here is Matveev’s statement in full:

“Appeal of Director of Solchart Victor Matveev to all official powers

Announcement of Director of Solchart Victor Matveev Helsinki, 21st of August.

It has become known on Monday that vessel Arctic Sea has been successfully rescued by the Russian Navy forces.

Despite this fact the company Solchart, under which commercial management the vessel operates, still does not receive any official information about the present situation with the crew and the vessel.

In the course of the last couple of days we have repeatedly requested various instances about condition of the crew and the vessel, trying to find out who is controlling the vessel and why it is heading to Novorossiysk. However we have not received any answers.

Considerable loss, caused by hijackers to us and the owners of the cargo, unstoppably expands every day with the absence of accurate information.

I, as the director of Solchart, would like to highlight my respect and express my gratitude to the crew of Arctic Sea, above all for their top professional qualities, tenacity and selflessness.

Solchart has always complied with the international rules and conventions. Crewing has been performed in full accordance with “Manning Certificate”. I will especially highlight professional qualities of the crew: all specialists on board possess necessary experience to work in a specific rank, and have long worked in order to attain certain position. Our seafarers receive considerable salaries, which comply with the requirements of international trade unions.

Thus, we appeal to all officials with the request to manifest humanity and provide to Solchart any kind of reliable information about the crew and the vessel.”

click here for link

Update- Arctic Sea saga

This is getting very interesting. I doubt we will ever find out the true story.

From Reuters

The official version of events was questioned by Yulia Latynina, a leading Russian opposition journalist and commentator.

"The Arctic Sea was carrying something, not timber and not from Finland, that necessitated some major work on the ship," she wrote in the Moscow Times newspaper on Wednesday.

During two weeks of repair works in the Russian port of Kaliningrad just before the voyage, the ship's bulkhead was dismantled so something very large could be loaded, she wrote.

"To put it plainly: The Arctic Sea was carrying some sort of anti-aircraft or nuclear contraption intended for a nice, peaceful country like Syria, and they were caught with it," she said.

click here for link

What happened to the Arctic Sea?

I still don't know what really went on...

From Tradewinds

Russia has arrested eight people over the alleged hijacking of the timber carrier Arctic Sea which was found off the coast of West Africa on Monday.

Citizens from Russia, Estonia and Latvia were seized from the 4,700-dwt ship when it was intercepted by a Russian warship 300 miles off Cape Verde early on Monday morning, Russia's defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov told state news agencies.

It is not known if any of those arrested were amongst the 15 Russian crew members of the Malta-flagged vessel.

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