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Report: 15 ships tied to al Qaeda (1/3)

The Washington Post reports that United States intelligence officials have identified “approximately 15 cargo freighters around the world” that are controlled by al Qaeda. In a front-page story published on New Year’s Eve, Post staff writer John Mintz notes that since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. has kept a list of al Qaeda “mystery ships” which has ranged from a dozen to as many as 50 vessels. Segments of the article were cited in other press reports in the U.S. and abroad. Mintz describes the search for the al Qaeda ships – reportedly conducted by Navy and allied vessels in the Arabian sea – as “one of the largest naval seahunts since World War II.” The article concludes with a look at the scam known as runaway-flag shipping or flag-of-convenience shipping. The writer points out that many runaway-flag vessels have been caught “illegally running guns and drugs.”