seagull Aug 4 '10, 16:40
Terrorists claim VLCC attack 04.08.2010
A TERRORIST group linked with Al Qaeda has reportedly released a statement saying it attacked the Mitsui OSK Lines VLCC M. Star last week.
"Last Wednesday, after midnight, the martyrdom-seeking hero Ayyub al-Taishan … blew himself up in the Japanese tanker M. Star in the Strait of Hormuz between the United Arab Emirates and Oman," the Brigades of Abdullah Azzam group said in a posting on a militant website, Reuters reported. The group has been based in southern Lebanon.
The statement could not be immediately verified, the news agency said, but it was consistent with the conclusions of explosives experts interviewed by Fairplay that the dent had probably been caused by a small craft with a bomb aboard.
Several investigations have been taking place since the tanker’s crew reported an explosion on 27 July. The vessel has a large square-shaped dent in its hull just above the waterline. The possible explosion of a rogue sea mine is also still being investigated.
An MOL spokeswoman told Fairplay that the company has only just received reports of the militants’ statement and is seeking to “find out if it’s true or not”.
Suggestions that the damage had been caused by a rogue wave or a rocket-propelled grenade have been ruled out by investigators. A TERRORIST group linked with Al Qaeda has reportedly released a statement saying it attacked the Mitsui OSK Lines VLCC M.
Lebanon
