Yemen seizes Turkish cargo of weapons

A large shipment of weapons concealed in biscuit boxes was seized in Yemen Saturday, authorities say. The cargo arrived in the Port of Aden in the south of Yemen coming from Turkey. The Yemini Ministry of Defence website quotes a security source saying: “The container coming from Turkey held cardboard biscuit-boxes containing weapons. The container was found suspicious and searched and the weapons cargo discovered.” The source added that security agencies are conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the contraband cargo which he said was aimed at causing unrest and instability in the country. Yemen is known to suffer from the widespread presence of firearms in the hands on civilians as well as tribal and religious militias. The situation is a headache for the authorities who struggle to ensure security and implement the political settlement in accordance with the power transfer programme which runs until 2014.