BEIRUT — Lebanon appeared on Friday to reject claims by the Ukrainian embassy in Beirut that a Syrian ship docked in a Lebanese port was carrying Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia, following an inspection by Lebanese customs officials.
A senior Lebanese customs official told The Associated Press that there was “nothing wrong” with the cargo of the Laodicea, which docked at the Lebanese port of Tripoli on Thursday, and that its paperwork was in order. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The controversy surrounding the ship underscored how much Lebanon, a small Mediterranean country bordering Syria, has been in the crosshairs of Russia’s months-long war in Ukraine.
The Laodicea is carrying 5,000 tons of flour and 5,000 tons of barley which, according to the Ukrainian Embassy in Beirut, were taken illegally by Russia. After the embassy raised the alarm, the Lebanese authorities opened an investigation.
The Russian Embassy, meanwhile, told Lebanese media that the Ukrainian claim was “baseless”.
The US Treasury Department sanctioned Laodicea in 2015 for its affiliation with the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad.
According to the Ukrainian embassy, the Laodicea is among dozens of ships that Kyiv says carried grain stolen from Russia. An embassy statement said Friday that the vessel had turned off its AIS tracking system in the Black Sea for 10 days, after docking earlier this month in the Russian-controlled port of Feodosia, Crimea.
There, according to the embassy, he was “laden with barley and wheat flour illegally exported from the territories of Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kherson” in Ukraine – areas captured by Russia during the war.
Marine Traffic, which monitors ship traffic and the location of vessels at sea, said the ship was initially heading for the port of Tartous in Syria and was expected to arrive there earlier this week. We did not know why he turned to Lebanon.
There was no sign that its cargo was being unloaded and the customs officer who spoke to the AP said the ship would remain docked until “the owner decides what to do with the cargo”.
Also on Friday, Lebanon’s acting Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Lebanon had received “a number of protests and warnings from a number of Western countries after the arrival” of the flagged vessel. Syrian in Tripoli. The British Embassy in Beirut told the AP that it also raised concerns with Bou Habib about the vessel.
The Ukrainian embassy said it would ask the Lebanese authorities to execute a Ukrainian court order and take possession of the ship. Lebanese government officials declined to comment publicly on the matter, pending an investigation.
Lebanon is striving to improve its relations with the West as the cash-strapped nation seeks financial aid to help its economic recovery. Western countries and Gulf Arab states are angered by the political power and influence that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah – a major ally of Iran and Syria – wields over Lebanese politics.
Ihor Ostash, Ukraine’s ambassador, met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Thursday, warning him that buying stolen goods from Russia would “harm bilateral relations”, according to an embassy statement.
Kyiv had previously praised Lebanon for condemning Russia for its war on Ukraine, which has upset Hezbollah and its allies who say they were not consulted on the issue – as well as Russia.
Ukraine had also recently promised to export flour to Lebanon, which is struggling with a shortage of wheat and a food security crisis.
Russia’s war against Ukraine, now in its sixth month, has prevented grain from leaving the ‘breadbasket of the world’, making food more expensive around the world and threatening to worsen shortages, hunger and political instability in developing countries. Together, Russia and Ukraine export almost a third of the world’s wheat and barley.
ABC News