Radioactive material trucks travelling to or from Iraq?
So I read these two articles (Aljazeera & Tehran Times) linked to on Miguel de Icaza's web log, talking about radioactive material being transferred across the Iraq/Kuwait border by the US.
Wanting to find out more I did a quick search on Google News for kuwait radioactive material. This brought up another source on China View which at first glance appears to be a duplicate of the article on Aljazeera. However a closer look shows one significant difference in their reporting...
From Aljazeera: U.S. truck carrying radioactive material caught in KuwaitFrom China View: Kuwait sends back truck carrying radioactive materialKuwait refused to allow a radioactive material-bound truck to enter the country as demanded by the U.S. army, Kuwait Times reported Sunday.
Kuwaiti customs department on Thursday impounded four trucks on route to Iraq for suspicion that they were loaded with radioactive material.
After checkup, three of them were found not containing any radioactive material, while the fourth was found to be carrying a container of highly radioactive substance.
Customs officials refused to open the truck, and insisted that it should not move before American military personnel and Kuwaiti security officers arrive at the scene.
The officials said the American army warned against opening the container and asked that it be allowed proceed, but they refused.
Three of the four trucks were then released and the fourth one was sent out of Kuwait to where it came despite the US army's objections.
Kuwait refused to allow a radioactive material-bound truck to enter the country as demanded by the US army, Kuwait Times reported Sunday.
Kuwaiti customs department on Thursday impounded four trucks coming from Iraq for suspicion that they were loaded with radioactive material.
After checkup, three of them were found not containing any radioactive material, while the fourth was found to be carrying a container of highly radioactive substance.
Customs officials refused to open the truck, and insisted that it should not move before American military personnel and Kuwaiti security officers arrive at the scene.
The officials said the American army warned against opening the container and asked that it be allowed proceed, but they refused.
Three of the four trucks were then released and the fourth one was sent out of Kuwait to where it came despite the US army's objections.
Both articles mention the Kuwaiti Times as their source, so another quick trip to Google locates the online version of the Kuwaiti Times. Here is the original article published last Sunday.
From Kuwaiti Times: Truck carrying radioactive material sent back
KUWAIT: Informed sources said the customs department released three out of four trucks it had impounded since Thursday after suspicion they were carrying radioactive material from Iraq to Kuwait for the US Army. The trucks were driven by four Indians. Sources said it was found that three trucks did not contain any radioactive matter, while the fourth was found to be carrying a container of highly radioactive substance. Customs officials refused to open the truck, and insisted that it not move before American military personnel and Kuwaiti security officers arrive at the scene. Sources said the American Army warned against opening the container and asked that it be allowed proceed, but the officers refused. The sources said that it was then agreed to send the truck out of Kuwait to where it came from despite the US army’s objections.
So it would appear that the China View article (trucks coming from Iraq) is perhaps more accurate than the Aljazeera one (trucks going to Iraq).
Unfortunately I can't read Arabic so I can't search for the Al-Khaleej source mentioned in the Tehran Times article.
Updated: Changed the links for the Tehran Times and Aljazeera articles as they have moved. Changed the link for the Kuwaiti Times article to a copy on my site as it has cycled off of theirs.
Wanting to find out more I did a quick search on Google News for kuwait radioactive material. This brought up another source on China View which at first glance appears to be a duplicate of the article on Aljazeera. However a closer look shows one significant difference in their reporting...
From Aljazeera: U.S. truck carrying radioactive material caught in KuwaitFrom China View: Kuwait sends back truck carrying radioactive materialKuwait refused to allow a radioactive material-bound truck to enter the country as demanded by the U.S. army, Kuwait Times reported Sunday.
Kuwaiti customs department on Thursday impounded four trucks on route to Iraq for suspicion that they were loaded with radioactive material.
After checkup, three of them were found not containing any radioactive material, while the fourth was found to be carrying a container of highly radioactive substance.
Customs officials refused to open the truck, and insisted that it should not move before American military personnel and Kuwaiti security officers arrive at the scene.
The officials said the American army warned against opening the container and asked that it be allowed proceed, but they refused.
Three of the four trucks were then released and the fourth one was sent out of Kuwait to where it came despite the US army's objections.
Kuwait refused to allow a radioactive material-bound truck to enter the country as demanded by the US army, Kuwait Times reported Sunday.
Kuwaiti customs department on Thursday impounded four trucks coming from Iraq for suspicion that they were loaded with radioactive material.
After checkup, three of them were found not containing any radioactive material, while the fourth was found to be carrying a container of highly radioactive substance.
Customs officials refused to open the truck, and insisted that it should not move before American military personnel and Kuwaiti security officers arrive at the scene.
The officials said the American army warned against opening the container and asked that it be allowed proceed, but they refused.
Three of the four trucks were then released and the fourth one was sent out of Kuwait to where it came despite the US army's objections.
Both articles mention the Kuwaiti Times as their source, so another quick trip to Google locates the online version of the Kuwaiti Times. Here is the original article published last Sunday.
From Kuwaiti Times: Truck carrying radioactive material sent back
KUWAIT: Informed sources said the customs department released three out of four trucks it had impounded since Thursday after suspicion they were carrying radioactive material from Iraq to Kuwait for the US Army. The trucks were driven by four Indians. Sources said it was found that three trucks did not contain any radioactive matter, while the fourth was found to be carrying a container of highly radioactive substance. Customs officials refused to open the truck, and insisted that it not move before American military personnel and Kuwaiti security officers arrive at the scene. Sources said the American Army warned against opening the container and asked that it be allowed proceed, but the officers refused. The sources said that it was then agreed to send the truck out of Kuwait to where it came from despite the US army’s objections.
So it would appear that the China View article (trucks coming from Iraq) is perhaps more accurate than the Aljazeera one (trucks going to Iraq).
Unfortunately I can't read Arabic so I can't search for the Al-Khaleej source mentioned in the Tehran Times article.
Updated: Changed the links for the Tehran Times and Aljazeera articles as they have moved. Changed the link for the Kuwaiti Times article to a copy on my site as it has cycled off of theirs.