RUSSIA - Feb. 8 - Softer Stance Taken On Detained Oil Tanker.Russia appears to back down on the detention of its tanker Volga-Neft-147, by a US warship warship, any ship built or armed for naval combat. The forerunners of the modern warship were the men-of-war of the 18th and early 19th cent., such as the ship of the line, frigate, corvette, sloop of war (see sloop), brig, and cutter. , with FM Ivanov no longer flatly denying that the vessel may have been carrying oil from Iraq. (Earlier, Russia had demanded the immediate release of the tanker, which the US Navy seized in the Gulf of Oman Noun 1. Gulf of Oman - an arm of the Arabian Sea connecting it with the Persian Gulf Arabian Sea - a northwestern arm of the Indian Ocean between India and Arabia on Feb. 2 on suspicion it was carrying Iraqi oil in violation of UN sanctions. Russian officials insisted the commercial tanker was carrying oil from Iran.) Ivanov says that more tests were necessary to determine the origin of the oil. But he indicates that Moscow would accept the confiscation confiscation In law, the act of seizing property without compensation and submitting it to the public treasury. Illegal items such as narcotics or firearms, or profits from the sale of illegal items, may be confiscated by the police. Additionally, government action (e.g. of the oil if the tanker did violate the UN embargo. (The UN sanctions allow Iraq to sell oil only under UN financial control and only to buy food and other essentials for its people and spare parts Spare parts, also referred to as Service Parts is a term used to indicate extra parts available and in proximity to the mechanical item, such as a automobile, boat, engine, for which they might be used. Spare parts are also called “spares. for its oil industry.) Ivanov says: "There are appropriate bodies that will decide on the origin of the fuel oil found on board the Russian tanker, and if the Security Council resolution was violated, the receipts from the sale of the confiscated con·fis·cate tr.v. con·fis·cat·ed, con·fis·cat·ing, con·fis·cates 1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury. 2. To seize by or as if by authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. adj. oil will be directed to the UN fund". The US Navy says a gas analysis had confirmed the oil came from Iraq. It also says documents found in the stateroom state·room n. A private cabin or compartment with sleeping accommodations on a ship or train. stateroom Noun 1. a private room on a ship 2. of the ship's first officer, an Iraqi national, backed up the analysis data. Ivanov says the Russian Foreign Ministry has commissioned a Swiss firm to conduct an independent test of the oil - a process that could take days. Alexander Nazarov, a diplomat at the Russian Embassy in Muscat Muscat, Maskat, or Masqat (all: mŭs`kăt, mŭs`kət), city (1993 pop. 533,774), capital of Oman, SE Arabia, on the Gulf of Oman. It is flanked by rugged mountains. , Oman's capital, says the tanker was brought to Oman on Feb. 7, but the unloading of the cargo was delayed by technical difficulties. (The oil will be put into storage until authorities decide what to do with it.) Ivanov's remarks come after the publication of an article in Russia's 'Izvestia'. The article alleged that Moscow had been caught lying and had made a major diplomatic error. The front-page article says: "Our lies were publicly exposed. Now the entire world knows that Russian tankers violate the UN embargo and Moscow officials cover them up. This blunder is one of the most serious made by the Russian Foreign Ministry in recent times". Meanwhile, 'Interfax' reports Deputy Transport Minister Yevgeny Kazantsev and a team of Russian lawyers arrived in Oman on Feb. 8 to study documents concerning the tanker. (Their findings will determine the Russian's next step.) |
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