In our top story today, Yemen has confirmed it ordered the Scud missiles discovered on a ship stopped Monday in the Arabian Sea. Yemeni officials have protested the interception of the shipment, which, they say, was destined for the Yemen’s army. U.S. officials are reacting cautiously to the discovery of the Scuds, believed to be from North Korea.
The ship carrying the missiles was stopped by two Spanish naval vessels, one of them shown here while in port, during U.S. led anti-terrorist operations in waters off the Horn of Africa.
When Spanish forces and U.S. weapons experts boarded the ship, they found more than a dozen scud-type missiles. In Beijing, visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage indicated no major change in U-S policy on North Korea is likely.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
"Obviously this was suspected by American authorities for some time and I think it is what it is. North Korea, as Dr Rice, our National Security adviser, has said time and again is one of the major proliferators and it appears that they are busy proliferating again."
The missiles on the vessel were hidden under a shipment of bags of cement. American officials say U.S. intelligence agencies have been tracking the ship since it left North Korean waters several weeks ago.