JOHANNESBURG: A shipment of guns bound for Somali pirate hunters was moved from Durban’s port into a house outside the city under mysterious circumstances, South African police said Tuesday.
Police spokesman Vincent Mdunge said police had been tracking the shipment and that four people — two South Africans and two foreigners whose nationalities he would not disclose — were arrested last week after the guns were traced to the house outside the city in eastern South Africa.
Thirteen guns — eight assault rifles fitted with telescopic and silencing devices, two AK47s, two shot guns and a revolver — were found.
"There could have been other firearms that are still lying about somewhere," Mdunge said.
The four suspects were freed on bail after their Dec. 23 arrest and are next to appear in court Feb. 7.
Police were still trying to determine whether a port official helped move the weapons, and why they were moved. Mdunge would not name the shippers.
Mdunge said investigators believe the weapons were being sent to Somalia for use to fight pirates, but did not know whether the Somali government or a private company was the importer. It was unclear whether the shippers had the proper permits to send the weapons to Somalia, Mdunge said.
A private contractor is training 1,000 men for an anti-piracy force in Somalia’s semiautonomous northern region of Puntland. U.S. officials say it is unclear who is funding the initiative, what its objectives are and whether it breaks a U.N. arms embargo on Somalia.
Uganda-based Saracen International has been identified as the contractor in a letter and a statement from Puntland’s government and the Somali president’s former chief of staff. But Bill Pelser, the chief executive of Saracen International, has denied his company is involved.
Contacted Tuesday, Pelser again denied involvement and said he was happy to hear of guns bound for Somalia being seized in South Africa.
Additional reporting by Katharine Houreld.
