Mystery of UAE plane held in Calcutta with arms bound for China

Delhi: India is struggling to unravel the mystery surrounding a United Arab Emirates Air Force aircraft detained in Calcutta since Sunday for carrying undeclared weapons — including at least one missile — bound for China.
The discovery has raised eyebrows, as the UAE buys most of its weapons from the United States and European Union, which impose strict controls on arms transfers to China.
The most controversial theory is that the weapons include high-tech equipment that China would like to examine or copy. Last year the UAE purchased 14 Maverick air-to-ground missiles from the United States and also signed a contract to buy US Patriot air defence missiles.
The UAE has refused to comment on the matter, fuelling suspicions that the three boxes of weapons found on the Hercules C130 transport plane were supposed to be secret. The aircraft was refuelling en route from Abu Dhabi to the northern Chinese city of Xianyang — a big arms production centre.
The nine crew members have been detained at a hotel and questioned, while the aircraft has been held at Calcutta’s airport, according to Indian officials.
The crew also has yet to explain why they were taking such an indirect route to China, rather than flying over Pakistan.
India’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying the pilot, Major Ibrahim Alshamsei, had admitted carrying arms, ammunition and explosives but had failed to declare the items in his initial application.
10/09/09 Jeremy Page/Times Online

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Categories: Airports Sep 2009, Foreign Sep 2009, p, Safety Sep 2009