Somali pirates seize UAE weapons ship

Dubai: Somali pirates seized a United Arab Emirates-flagged cargo ship loaded with weapons bound for the Horn of Africa, in breach of a UN arms embargo, maritime experts said on Monday.  Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme told Reuters that the ship, called Al-Mizan, had been hijacked on Sunday and was being held near the northern Somali town of Garacad.
This is the latest embarrassment for the UAE, after a plane bound for China from the Middle East state was stopped in India last month stocked full of embargoed arms bound for Beijing. [10/11/09]