KHARTOUM, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Sudanese authorities have seized a cargo of 72 bins of weapons that arrived by air from Ethiopia and that they think have been destined to be used in “crimes towards the state”, Sudan’s state information company, SUNA, reported on Sunday.
Ethiopian Airways mentioned the weapons have been searching weapons that have been a part of a authorized, verified cargo.
The cargo is being investigated by a committee tasked with dismantling the federal government of former President Omar al-Bashir, who was toppled in April 2019 after a well-liked rebellion, SUNA reported.
The weapons had arrived in Ethiopia from Moscow in Might 2019, the committee discovered.
The meant recipient of the weapons was unclear however the committee didn’t rule out that they have been meant for former Bashir authorities loyalists who Sudanese authorities accuse of attempting to undermine the nation’s fragile transition in direction of democracy, in accordance with SUNA.
The bins included weapons and night-vision goggles and arrived on an Ethiopian Airways business flight on Saturday night time, SUNA reported, with out giving additional particulars.
The committee pointed “to suspicions that these weapons have been meant for use in crimes towards the state, impeding the democratic transition and stopping the transition to the civil state”, SUNA reported.
Ethiopian Airways mentioned in an announcement that the weapons had been held for a very long time in Addis Ababa for verification, and that the consignee, who it didn’t title, had sued the airline in a Sudanese court docket, demanding it ship the weapons pay $250,000 in compensation.
Dina Mufti, spokesperson for the Ethiopian International Affairs Ministry, didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia have been operating excessive attributable to a spillover of the conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray area and Ethiopia’s development of a giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile. read more
The Tigray battle has despatched tens of 1000’s of refugees into jap Sudan and triggered army skirmishes in an space of contested farmland alongside the border between the 2 international locations.
Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz and Dawit Endeshaw; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Modifying by Peter Cooney
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