NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus said on Thursday it would conclude inquiries soon on whether a military cargo on a Sudan-bound vessel breached embargoes against the African state.
The island's trade minister, responsible for export control, said authorities were collating information on the cargo which Sudan officials said was carrying legitimate explosives ordered by a mining company.
Cypriot officials said the vessel, sailing to Sudan and then on to Singapore, carried explosive or military material and its legitimacy needed to be verified. It has been docked off the east Mediterranean island for two weeks.
Asked about Sudanese officials' comments on the nature of the cargo, Cypriot trade minister Antonis Paschalides said: "We are a very responsible government and we are hearing comments and (receiving) information like everybody else...there is alot of paperwork and claims which require verification because the issue is very serious."
He said he hoped that inquiries would be concluded soon.
Sudan's mining minister told Reuters on Wednesday the explosives found on board had been ordered by a mining company and had nothing to do with the military. He said reports of an arms shipment were "just nonsense".
The Antigua and Barbuda flagged vessel had been prevented from leaving Cypriot waters since June 11, when it anchored off the southern port of Limassol requesting refuelling.
Authorities had been checking whether the cargo contravened a U.N. arms embargo on all armed groups operating in Sudan's Darfur region, the site of a seven-year conflict pitting government troops and allied militias against rebel fighters.
Abdel Baqi al-Jailani, Sudan's recently appointed mining minister, said the explosives were intended for quarry face blasting and mining.
He said the explosives had been ordered by Ariab Mining Company, an operation part-owned by the Sudanese government with gold mining operations in eastern Sudan.
