ARAB-CIS RELATIONS - Apr. 7 - Russian Tanker Detained.

The Pentagon says samples taken from Russian oil tanker, Akademik Pustovoit, being held by US inspectors in the Persian Gulf are being tested to determine whether it came from an Iraqi refinery. But the Amsterdam-based Royal Dutch-Shell Group says the oil on board the tanker belonged to it, and came from Iran. There is no immediate reaction from the US Navy to the company's statement. (On Apr. 5, US warships enforcing sanctions against Iraq stopped the Russian tanker in international waters in the gulf. It is the 2nd time this year that a Russian tanker has been held for tests. The detained Russian-flagged tanker is owned by the Novorossiisk Shipping company.) On Apr. 7, Russian officials demand its release. (The export of Iraqi oil has been controlled by the UN under a sanctions plan since the end of the Persian Gulf War. Baghdad is allowed to sell oil only to raise money for food and medical supplies.)

According to a spokesman for the US Central Command, which is responsible for US military forces in the region, results are expected by next week. The samples are being tested by a US Coast Guard laboratory in San Francisco. US Navy Commander Jeff Gradeck, a spokesman for the Multinational Interception Force, says the detained tanker's crew remains on board the vessel, which is "somewhere in the southern Arabian Gulf". US officials say if the oil is determined to have come from Iraq, the ship will be diverted to a facility in the Persian Gulf, where the oil will be offloaded and sold. 'Interfax' reports Russian consular officials in the UAE were on their way to the tanker.

Nikolai Matyushenko, head of shipping at Russia's Transportation Ministry, tells 'Interfax' it was the 3rd time the Akademik Pustovoit had been checked, with no violations found so far. Matyushenko says: "In this case, the biased attitude of the Americans to Russian-flagged ships is obviously being looked at". (In February, the tanker Volgoneft was detained for smuggling an Iraqi oil cargo, which was offloaded and sold. The ship was returned to its owners by the government of Oman. In the case of the Volgoneft, the Russian government had claimed that the ship had not violated the embargo, but backed down when confronted with evidence provided by the US, including satellite tracking records.)