By Daniel M. Austin Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
KHARTOUM, Sudan – The website WikiLeaks has released diplomatic cables describing the hijacking of a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden by Somali pirates in September 2008. This act of piracy was especially alarming because the merchant ship was transporting a large arms shipment destined for southern Sudan. The cables go on to describe both the contents of the arms shipment and the Kenyan government’s role in helping to deliver the weapons to southern Sudan.
The merchant ship attacked by Somali pirates was the MV Faina, a Belize flagged Ukrainian tanker. According to the cable, the merchant ship contained a huge arms shipment including 33 T-72 tanks, 42 anti-aircraft guns, 36 rocket-propelled grenades, six rocket launchers and 13,000 125mm rounds of ammunition. The MV Faina was bound for Kenya when it came under attack. U.S. diplomats believed that if the cargo landed in Kenya, the arms would have been off-loaded onto rail cars and transported through Uganda to Juba, Sudan. U.S. officials claim an earlier arms shipment, that included tanks, was delivered to southern Sudan along the same route.
In early 2009, the MV Faina was released after a $3.2 million (U.S. dollars) ransom was paid. After being freed, the MV Faina traveled to Kenya and unloaded its cargo. The tanks and other weapons still remain in Kenya and have not been transported outside of the country. The Wikileak’s cables also describes how diplomats and military commanders in the United States were contemplating a military strike on the MV Faina in order to prevent the weapons from falling into the hands of al-Shabab, an Islamic militant group operating in Somalia.
Along with detailing the arms shipment, the diplomatic cables illuminate the work of U.S. diplomats in Africa. Specifically, the cables describe the United States tacit approval of Kenya’s effort to supply weapons to southern Sudan during the Bush administration. However, when President Obama took office in 2009, his administration reversed course and became much more critical of Kenya’s actions.
The release of these sensitive diplomatic cables is coming at a crucial time for Sudan. On January 9, 2011, a referendum will be held to decide whether southern Sudan will break away from the north and become an independent state. The referendum was part of a peace deal negotiated in 2005 after 50 years of civil war.
For more information, please see:
Associated Press — US considered military action on pirated arms ship –- 10 December 2010
BBC Africa – Wikileaks: US ‘aware of’ Kenya-Southern Sudan arms deal – 9 December 2010
New York Times — Pirates’ Catch Exposed Route of Arms in Sudan – 8 December 2010
The Christian Science Monitor — WikiLeaks documents roil Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa – 9 December 2010
Voice of America — Leaked Cables Detail Kenya’s Role in Arming South Sudan – 9 December 2010
