The events leading up to the bombing of a munitions factory in the
Sudanese capital Khartoum last Monday– believed to have been carried out
by Israel – has all the markings of the next made for Hollywood
blockbuster spy thriller; international intrigue, politics, espionage,
arms trafficking and Islamist fervor all taking place in oil producing
countries.
What is interesting -- and worrisome – in this story is the extent to which the Middle East conflict has evolved, the number of countries which have become drawn into it and just how complex and dangerous this issue has become, transgressing borders and establishing new frontiers in international Islamist cooperation.
There are two very different parts to this story that at first may seem unrelated. Last Monday an Iranian naval task force docked in Sudan, most probably in Port Sudan, on the Red Sea. The naval force was bringing a message “of peace and security to neighboring countries,” reports the official Iranian news agency, IRNA. “The visit by Iranian warships to Sudan “is intended to underscore the defense and security ties between the two countries,” said IRNA.
The force included the Shahid Naqdi, a corvette-class vessel and the Kharg, a supply vessel capable of carrying three helicopters. The ships had set sail from Iran, most likely from Bandar Abbas, last month, according to IRNA. Note the presence of a supply ship, an indication that supplies were to be carried, one would assume.
The task force arrived in the African country six days after the destruction of the al-Yarmouk munitions factory in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. It is believed by a number of intelligence sources that these arms were being built in Sudan with Iranian financing and destined for Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian movement in the Gaza Strip. The weapons are believed to include rockets and other weapons and are then smuggled through Egypt into Gaza.
These rockets are a step up from the crude home-made rockets Hamas has fired at Israel in the past.
Read more: http://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Middle-East/Oil-Guns-Spies-and-Islamism.html
What is interesting -- and worrisome – in this story is the extent to which the Middle East conflict has evolved, the number of countries which have become drawn into it and just how complex and dangerous this issue has become, transgressing borders and establishing new frontiers in international Islamist cooperation.
There are two very different parts to this story that at first may seem unrelated. Last Monday an Iranian naval task force docked in Sudan, most probably in Port Sudan, on the Red Sea. The naval force was bringing a message “of peace and security to neighboring countries,” reports the official Iranian news agency, IRNA. “The visit by Iranian warships to Sudan “is intended to underscore the defense and security ties between the two countries,” said IRNA.
The force included the Shahid Naqdi, a corvette-class vessel and the Kharg, a supply vessel capable of carrying three helicopters. The ships had set sail from Iran, most likely from Bandar Abbas, last month, according to IRNA. Note the presence of a supply ship, an indication that supplies were to be carried, one would assume.
The task force arrived in the African country six days after the destruction of the al-Yarmouk munitions factory in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. It is believed by a number of intelligence sources that these arms were being built in Sudan with Iranian financing and destined for Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian movement in the Gaza Strip. The weapons are believed to include rockets and other weapons and are then smuggled through Egypt into Gaza.
These rockets are a step up from the crude home-made rockets Hamas has fired at Israel in the past.
Read more: http://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/Middle-East/Oil-Guns-Spies-and-Islamism.html
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