*Iran says* arms seized in Nigeria were for Gambia Wed Feb 9, 2011 10:36am GMT By Camillus Eboh ABUJA (Reuters) - Crates of weapons seized in Nigeria last year had been sent from Iran and were destined for Gambia as part of a three-year-old agreement between the two countries, the Iranian ambassador to Nigeria said. Nigeria reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council in November for an apparent breach of U.N. sanctions. Tehran's ambassador said he had told Nigerian authorities the shipment was part of legitimate trade with Gambia. The weapons included assorted calibres of mortars and 107mm rockets -- designed to attack static targets and used by armies to support infantry units -- and shells for a 23mm anti-aircraft gun, hidden in containers marked building materials. "Security agencies in your country assessed these containers. I informed them formally that this consignment was not meant for Nigeria, it was meant for another country which you know is the Gambia," Hussein Abdullahi told reporters in Nigeria's capital Abuja late on Tuesday. "It is based on the agreement signed between Iran and the Gambia three years back and this is not the first part of that consignment. This is the third part and I asked them to please not allow people who are not happy with our friendly relations to gain advantage of this incident," Abdullahi said. Iranian Azim Adhajani and Nigerian businessman Ali Usman Abbas Jega pleaded not guilty at a Lagos court last week to charges of importing prohibited firearms. Prosecution documents identify Adhajani as a Tehran-based businessman and member of the Revolutionary Guard. Diplomatic sources told Reuters shortly after the goods were seized that two members of the al-Quds force -- an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard which specialises in foreign operations for Iran -- were involved. The second Iranian had diplomatic immunity and has since left the country. Iran has said the cargo belonged to a private firm and was for sale "legitimately". It has described the seizure as a misunderstanding. A 2007 U.N. Security Council resolution states Iran must not "supply, sell or transfer directly or indirectly from its territory or by its nationals ... any arms or related material", under sanctions imposed over its disputed nuclear programme. As a non-permanent member of the Security Council, Nigeria was obliged to report the apparent breach to the U.N. sanctions committee. Experts from the world body visited Nigeria last month to assess whether the shipment had contravened the ban but its findings have not yet been made public. © Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world. ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤