Transport of weapons to Sudan “legal” – Ethiopian Airlines

By Agence de Presse Africaine Last updated Sep 7, 2021

APA-Addis Ababa Ethiopian Airlines on Monday said its transport of weapons to Sudan was a “legal and commercial” shipment of hunting guns, after reports the cargo had been confiscated by the authorities in Khartoum. The Sudanese authorities Sunday told SUNA that they seized 72 boxes of Russia- made weapons that arrived in Khartoum from Addis Ababa via…

APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Ethiopian Airlines on Monday said its transport of weapons to Sudan was a “legal and commercial” shipment of hunting guns, after reports the cargo had been confiscated by the authorities in Khartoum.

The Sudanese authorities Sunday told SUNA that they seized 72 boxes of Russia-made weapons that arrived in Khartoum from Addis Ababa via Ethiopian Airlines.

SUNA quoted officials as saying the weapons had originally been sent from Russia to Ethiopia in May 2019 and were held by authorities there for two years.

According to Ethiopian Airlines, the shipment of weapons to Sudan is a legal and commercial transportation of hunting guns with all proper documents of the shipper and the consignee.

The hunting guns were held by security authorities in Addis Ababa for a long time for verification and the consignee sued Ethiopian in Sudanese court to either deliver the hunting guns or pay close to USD250, 000 as compensation, the Airlines said.

“As we have got a clearance from Ethiopian security authorities after completing the due verification process, we shipped them to the consignee in Sudan. We have all the documentation that proves the legality of the shipment including a letter from Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the airlines’ statement said.

The official news agency said investigations are underway about these weapons, the statement added.

MG/abj/APA