As UN investigators probe Gambia-bound weapons shipment

Wednesday, 19 January 2011 12:19

Iran’s Foreign Minister visits for Dakar
JollofNews - A delegation of UN investigators Tuesday arrived in Nigeria to look into the matter of weapons intercepted last October, which were subsequently linked to Gambia as the recipient.
The weapons, which included rocket launchers and grenades, were found hidden in a shipment of containers labeled as building materials.
The ensuing diplomatic rancor over “unsatisfactory” explanation for its linkage to Gambia caused relations between Iran and two neighbors Gambia and Senegal to suffer. The two neighbors themselves came close to facing each other, but Senegal’s cautious approach helped calm the tension.
It now appears that the approach by the Senegalese is paying off, as Iran’s new Foreign Minister is in Dakar for talks that could reset the two countries relations back on track.
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi left Turkey Tuesday and headed for Senegal, where he is expected to hold meetings with President Abdoulaye Wade and Foreign Minister Madicke Niang to discuss what officials call bilateral relations.
Both Senegal and Gambia severed ties with the Islamic Republic following the weapons saga. But while Gambia acted in a bizarre manner announcing the cutting of all ties without issuing any explanation, Senegal simply recalled its ambassador “for consultations” pending convincing explanation from the Iranians on the final destination of the weapons.
Like in Senegal, Iran had started huge investment projects in Gambia, all of which appear to have gone down the drain.
Following Gambia’s action, an Iranian parliamentarian vowed that Gambia would regret its decision to cut ties with the Islamic Republic.
Mohammad Karami-Rad, a member of the Iranian Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, in November was quoted by the Iranian Students News Agency as saying “Gambia will remorse for cutting relations with Iran."
“The reason for this shift in his behavior should be searched in his moral characteristics,” the MP said of Gambian president Yahya Jammeh.

UN weapons investors’ report
Meanwhile, while explanation to the mystery surrounding the destination of the Nigeria intercepted arms remains elusive to this day, the arrival of UN officials in the country raises the prospect of a final settlement on the matter.
The nine-member UN panel first met in the Nigerian capital Abuja Tuesday before travelling to Lagos, where the shipment are still being held, reports said.
"The presence of the U.N. panel ... is to highlight the danger the international community faces in keeping the world reasonably safe," Nigerian Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia was quoted saying on Tuesday.
The visiting UN panel, headed by former foreign minister of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili, according to the Nigerian Foreign minister, is expected to submit a report on its findings to the UN to ascertain the realities of the shipment – vis-à-vis its final intended destination and who exactly is/are behind it.
Even though there have been tension over the possibility of Gambia being the destination, Nigerian authorities are also reported to be accommodating the idea that the shipment might have been intended for Nigerian politicians who might have been planning violence in the event that they lost elections in the country’s forthcoming general elections.

Written by Augustine Jatta