Real people and their families are effected if they cannot be home on schedule. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-18503421 The MV Alaed had its insurance withdrawn by The Standard Club in London while it was about 50 miles off the north coast of Scotland. The insurer said it had sought more information on the boat's cargo. Withdrawal of insurance prevents the MV Alaed from sailing until its owner can secure new cover. It is thought that the vessel has stopped off the Western Isles. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said it was unclear where the vessel would now go. The Russian embassy in London has not yet commented. The UK and US have raised concerns with Russia about shipments of weapons to Syria, which is subject to a European Union arms embargo. In a statement, the FCO said: "We are aware of a ship carrying a consignment of refurbished Russian-made attack helicopters heading to Syria. "The foreign secretary made clear to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov when they met on 14 June that all defence shipments to Syria must stop. "We are working closely with international partners to ensure that we are doing all we can to stop the Syrian regime's ability to slaughter civilians being reinforced through assistance from other countries." The Standard Club said it believed the MV Alaed had stopped off the coast of the Western Isles. In a statement, it said: "We were informed on Friday evening that the ship might be carrying weapons, in particular attack helicopters, missiles and non-specific munitions, and we are making inquiries to establish what their side of the story is. "There are exclusion clauses in our cover and, for anyone involved in improper or unlawful trade, we can cancel cover.
You didn't put a link to the original article and the part you posted doesn't mention France. They've usually been allied with the USSR and not the U.K. or the U.S.A. Just curious.
France couldn't care a toss about the Federation . They were put there by EU planning and agreement over a decade ago to try and get a softly , softly approach to work with Assad . Now France is obliged to act in line with EU agreed sanctions . The whole matter being orchestrated by NATO -- which means US cash and leadership . Just a few minor script changes versus the Libya blueprint . Russia being the elephant in the room .
The ship has been rejected from port and is returning to Kaliningrad. Well I did not expect this. http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSL5E8HJFPJ20120619?irpc=932 LONDON/MOSCOW June 19 (Reuters) - A cargo ship off the British coast carrying weapons bound for Syria has apparently turned back towards Russia, Britain's Foreign Secretary said on Tuesday, calling again for a halt to arms shipments to President Bashar al-Assad. The Curacao-flagged cargo ship Alaed, last seen off the north-west coast of Scotland this week, was believed to carrying Russian weaponry to Syria, according to an insurer which said it had withdrawn coverage for the vessel. Britain's Foreign Office had said earlier it was aware of a consignment of refurbished Russian-made attack helicopters heading for Syria, but did not say if it was referring to the same vessel. "I am pleased that the ship that was reported to be carrying arms to Syria has now turned back apparently towards Russia," British Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament. "We have in place a European Union arms embargo on Syria. We discourage anyone else from supplying arms to Syria. We have had discussions with Russia about that specifically." Russia has faced increasing Western criticism over arms supplies to Syria, where the United Nations says government forces have killed more than 10,000 people in a crackdown. Last month, the U.S. described the delivery of heavy Russian weapons in a shipment as "reprehensible". Ship tracking data showed on Tuesday that the Alaed set off from the Russian port of Baltiisk in the Baltic province of Kaliningrad on June 11. London-headquartered ship insurer Standard Club said it had been contacted about the vessel it had been covering, but did not say by whom. "We were made aware of the allegations that the Alaed was carrying munitions destined for Syria and have already informed the ship owner that their insurance cover ceased automatically in view of the nature of the voyage," the insurer said. Moscow-based Russian ship management and operator group Femco, operating the Alaed, offered no comment when contacted several times by Reuters about the ship and its cargo. But it said it would post comment on its website later on Tuesday with "true information". Insurers would be obliged to withdraw coverage for any shipments violating European Union sanctions, including an arms embargo on Syria. Without insurance, the vessel could be forced either to dock at a port, drop its run to Syria or find a provider outside the European Union. The Alaed was last seen off the coast of Scotland and declared as heading for the Russian port of Vladivostok where it was due to arrive on July 24, according to tracking data. A Moscow-based defence analyst said the Alaed was carrying helicopters that were bought by Syria during the Soviet era and had been sent back to Russia for repair in the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad. "I am sure based on open source material that the ship is carrying 12-15 helicopters that were repaired in Kaliningrad and are on their way to Syria," said Ruslan Aliyev, who works at defence think tank CAST, referring to an order of Mi-25 helicopters. "They were old helicopters bought by (Assad's late father and predecessor) Hafez al-Assad, I believe at the end of the 1980s." SHIPMENT HALT URGED U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on June 12 that the United States was "concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria." She said such a sale "will escalate the conflict quite dramatically." The accusation angered Moscow, which says it is fulfilling existing contracts for air defence systems, for use against external attacks, and not delivering offensive weapons. Under pressure over continuing arms trade with Syria, President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that the weapons its sends could not be used in civil conflicts. The Russian Foreign Ministry said last week that Russia had sent no new helicopters to Syria but had repaired helicopters delivered to its government "many years ago". It gave no specifics about when any helicopters were repaired or sent back to Syria. A source close to Russia's arms exporting monopoly Rosoboronexport said last week that Clinton may have been referring to helicopters that were sent to Russia in 2009 for repairs and may have been on the way back to Syria. The source said at least nine Mi-25 helicopters were sent to Kaliningrad to be repaired by Oboronservis, owned by the Defence Ministry. A rights group reported that the Professor Katsman ship had docked at the Syrian port of Tartous last month with a cache of heavy weapons for Assad. (Additional reporting by Mohammed Abbas in London)
Not really. France has remained independent for a lot of things, but more recently, they've sided with the U.K. and us on the Libya invasion.
Prime Minister Disraeli hit the head on the nail when in 1857, he accused Britain of worshipping not Christ, but Molech, the god of war, suffering, chaos, lies and death. Here you have the USA, Britain and France allied with Qatar, Turkey, Kuwait, the Saudi family, and the Israelis to arm and supply various Talmudic Allah Ahkbar terrorists to attack Syria for "Islamic" Conquest. And, they are trying to stop Russia from arming its Mother Nation against the British Allah Akhbar terrorists torturing and murdering the Syrian people. Can't think of any hypocrisy any greater than the insanely vicious attitude of the USA, Britain and France against their Mother nation, Syria. In the meantime, Russia's support of her Mother nation qualifies Russia to be the center of the New Jerusalem of Christian Israel, while the apostate nations of Europe and America have become the Bablyon that murdered the Perfect Man, "nature's God". They have become full of every sort of hateful unclean bird.
