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BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon appeared Friday to reject claims by the Ukrainian Embassy in Beirut {that a} Syrian ship docked in a Lebanese port is carrying Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia, following an inspection by Lebanese customs officers.
A senior Lebanese customs official informed The Related Press that there was “nothing flawed” with the cargo of the Laodicea, which docked within the Lebanese port of Tripoli on Thursday, and that its papers had been so as. The official spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to speak to the media.
The controversy surrounding the ship has underscored how Lebanon, a tiny Mediterranean nation bordering Syria, has been within the crosshairs of Russia’s months-long warfare in Ukraine.
The Laodicea is carrying 5,000 tons of flour and 5,000 tons of barley that Ukraine’s Embassy in Beirut says was illegally taken by Russia. After the embassy raised the alarm, Lebanese authorities initiated an investigation.
The Russian Embassy, in the meantime, has informed Lebanese media that the Ukrainian declare was “baseless.”
The U.S. Division of the Treasury had sanctioned the Laodicea in 2015 for its affiliation with the Syrian authorities of President Bashar Assad.
In keeping with the Ukrainian Embassy, the Laodicea is amongst scores of vessels that Kyiv alleges transported grain stolen by Russia. An embassy assertion Friday stated the ship had turned off its AIS monitoring system within the Black Sea for 10 days, after docking earlier this month in Russia-controlled Crimea’s port of Feodosia.
There, the embassy stated, it was “loaded with barley and wheat flour illegally exported from the territories of Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kherson” in Ukraine — areas taken by Russia within the warfare.
Marine Visitors, which displays vessel site visitors and site of ships on seas, stated the vessel was initially heading to Tartus Port in Syria, and had been anticipated to reach there earlier this week. It was unknown why it had rerouted to Lebanon.
There have been no indicators that its cargo was being unloaded and the customs official who spoke to the AP stated the ship will remained docked till “the proprietor decides what to do with the cargo.”
Additionally Friday, Lebanon’s performing International Minister Abdallah Bou Habib stated Lebanon had acquired “numerous protests and warnings from numerous Western international locations following the arrival” of the Syrian-flagged ship in Tripoli. The British Embassy in Beirut informed the AP that it had additionally raised considerations with Bou Habib concerning the ship.
The Ukrainian Embassy stated it was going to ask Lebanese authorities to implement a Ukrainian courtroom order and take possession of the vessel. Lebanese authorities officers declined to publicly touch upon the matter, pending the investigation.
Lebanon is scrambling to enhance ties with the West because the cash-strapped nation appeals for monetary help to assist with its financial restoration. Western international locations and Gulf Arab states are irked by the political energy and affect that the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group — a significant ally of Iran and Syria — wields in Lebanese politics.
Ihor Ostash, Ukraine’s ambassador, met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Thursday, warning him that buying stolen items from Russia would “hurt bilateral ties,” based on an embassy assertion.
Kyiv had beforehand praised Lebanon for condemning Russia for its warfare on Ukraine, which upset Hezbollah and allies who say they weren’t consulted on the matter – in addition to Russia.
Ukraine had additionally lately promised to export flour to Lebanon, combating a wheat scarcity and meals safety disaster.
Russia’s warfare on Ukraine, now in its sixth month, has prevented grain from leaving the “breadbasket of the world,” making meals costlier throughout the globe and threatening to worsen shortages, starvation and political instability in creating international locations. Collectively, Russia and Ukraine export almost a 3rd of the world’s wheat and barley.
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