Non-Subscriber Extract
T-72 main battle tanks finally unloaded from MV Faina
By Nick Brown
17 February 2009
The hijacked and ransomed cargo ship MV Faina began to offload its cargo of weapons in the Port of Mombasa early on 14 February.
Of chief international interest among the stores were a number of T-72 main battle tanks (MBTs), which were at the centre of diplomatic and media attention when Faina was seized by Somali pirates in September 2008. Local sources put the number of MBTs at 33, supported by an unknown number of anti-aircraft gun systems, believed to be ZPU-4 quad-barrelled 14.5 mm towed anti-aircraft guns, and stocks of small arms.
Kenya has repeatedly issued claims to be the end user of the weapons, but Jane's sources state that this is, in fact, the third and final batch of MBTs and heavy weapons ordered for use in southern Sudan.