Greek Govt Under Fire Over U.S. Arms to Israel

[tekisui]

Source: Reuters

ATHENS/WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Greece's opposition accused the ruling conservatives on Tuesday of allowing U.S. arms shipments to Israel via a Greek port for over a year, despite the government's denials.

The U.S. military said on Monday it cancelled the shipment of 325 containers of ammunition from the western Greek port of Astakos to a U.S. stockpile in Israel, citing safety concerns at the Israeli port of destination due to the conflict in Gaza.

However, a Pentagon spokesman said on Tuesday the transport had been cancelled at the request of the Greek government. Reports of the shipment had provoked a media outcry in Greece, where Israel's 18-day-old offensive in Gaza is deeply unpopular.

"I think the Greek government has some issue with the offloading of some of that shipment in their country and we are finding alternative means of getting that entire shipment to its proper destination in Israel," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.

He said the decision to replenish the stockpile, which can be accessed by Israel with U.S. permission, had been taken long before the outbreak of the Gaza conflict. Morrell said he did not know if Israel currently had access to the weapons cache.

Greece's opposition PASOK party submitted questions to parliament asking whether U.S. arms shipments to Israel via Astakos, which it said dated back to September 2007, had been approved by the government.

"Did the foreign ministry and other relevant ministries approve these shipments or was Greek and international law replaced by practices that weaken the sovereignty of this country?" read the PASOK statement.

more: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLD640132

[High Plains]

1. One European government listens to its people.

Maybe those December riots and general strikes concentrated its mind.

[azurnoir]

2. I was wondering about saftey issues

like did Hamas suddenly develop a navy? or was this an underhanded implication towards Iran or what? So the big brass boys had to think about it before admitting they were being stymied by some little "pipsqueak" nation like Greece they must embarrassed as all heck, cause there is not sh*t they can do except complain, they can not even pull the NATO rabbit out of the hat because this is not a defense issue which makes it even more embarrassing