Syria Denies Israel Took Part in Search for Victims 

Dahi Hassan, Arab News

DAMASCUS, 22 April 2005 — Syria denied yesterday that Israel’s navy helped search for crewmen from a ship that sank in international waters in the Mediterranean, saying the disaster happened too far from the Jewish state’s coast.

Three crewmen — two Syrians and an Egyptian — have been rescued and four are still missing, said an official at Syria’s port of Tartous, where the Syrian-owned ship was heading. The Korean-flagged ship sailed from Egypt’s Mediterranean port of El-Arish, but the official did not when.

Israel’s military said Wednesday that its navy vessels and helicopters joined US and French naval units in the search for the crew of a ship that it said sank about 56 kilometers off the coast of northern Israel.

“Israeli military boats did not take any role in the search,” the Syrian official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

He said the ship sank about 160 kilometers off the Israeli coast. It was not clear why the Syrian and Israeli officials gave different locations.

The official said the ship was carrying 1,400 tons of cement. He said the three crewmen were saved by the Turkish crew of a Panamanian ship. They were later transferred to a French military vessel before being handed over to a Syrian ship on its way to Tartous.

Three Syrians and an Egyptian are still missing, he said. An Israeli military spokesman said Wednesday that the search for the four missing men was suspended after several hours due to darkness and sea conditions and was to be renewed at daybreak yesterday.

On Wednesday, an Israeli military spokesman said the three survivors were picked up by a nearby cargo ship and later transferred to a nearby Syrian vessel.

In 2003, another Syrian cargo ship sank off Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli, leaving its 11-man crew missing. The accident was blamed on strong winds and high waves. The ship was carrying sand for construction.