Shipload of SAM-7 Anti-Aircraft Missiles Heading to Terrorists in Syria
Media reports revealed on Friday that a huge arms cargo has been shipped to Turkey to be delivered to terrorists and armed groups in Syria in the next few days. "A Libyan ship carrying the largest consignment of weapons for Syria…has docked in Turkey," said the Times in an article published on Friday. The article's writer, Sheera Frenkel, said a major portion of the cargo on the Libyan ship is making its way to armed groups inside Syria. Quoting a member of the 'Free Army', who called himself Abu Mohammad, the article said the over-400-ton cargo included "SAM-7 surface-to-air anti-aircraft missiles and rocket-propelled grenades." Abu Mohammad, who told The Times that he "helped to move the shipment from warehouses to the border", said "this is the largest single delivery of assistance" the gunmen have so far received. The article said the Libyan ship, which is called (victory), is berthed at the Turkish port of Iskenderun and its captain, Omar Mousaeeb has received the "papers stamped by the port authority" for the cargo. The article pointed out that Mousaeeb is "a Libyan from Benghazi and the head of an organization called the Libyan National Council for Relief and Support," which is delivering supplies to armed rebels and terrorists in Syria. Mousaeeb ascribed the defeats of these groups in Syria to the lack of weapons, adding however that "we now see there is even more than they need." The British newspaper highlighted differences between the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Syria and the Free Army over the ownership of the cargo as the main cause of the "delayed arrival of the weapons in Syria". The article revealed that videos and photos confirmed the arrival of the shipment to the Syrian border and that "more than 80% of the ship's cargo…has been moved into Syria". According to the article, huge weapons stockpiles went missing in Libya after the killing of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, referring to photographs of empty boxes of SAM-7S and confirmations by Libyan officials that "more than 5,000 of the missiles had vanished". The Times affirmed that this is not the first time that Libyan ships try to deliver weapons to armed terrorist groups in Syria, referring to "a large consignment of Libyan weapons, including PRGs and heavy ammunition," which was seized by the Lebanese authorities in the Northern parts of their territorial waters before the ship could deliver its cargo to gunmen and terrorists in Syria.