Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Army says arms belong to ARM, shipment is legal

The General Staff of the Army of Republic of Macedonia confirmed late Friday that the arms shipment that was seized by the Police belongs to ARM.

The General Staff also dismissed Police's allegations that no adequate transportation documentation existed, and denied claiming that the shipment was seized at Skopje's outskirts. The Army does not mention any involvement of Bulgaria and calls the media to restrain from releasing unconfirmed information.

"Pursuant to the Decision of the Government of RM, adopted upon proposal of the Defense Ministry and ARM General Staff, the Defense Ministry and MZT - Vehicles for Special Purposes signed an agreement for compensation of the non-perspective arms of ARM", the latest ARM's announcement says.

On the basis of the agreement and the accompanying documentation, MZT "takes over the non-perspective arms from ARM's warehouses, hiring a transportation company of their choice".

The three trucks were intercepted by the Police "in the premises of MZT - Vehicles for Special Purposes Repair Shop, and not on the Skopje-Kumanovo highway".

After carried out inspection, the Police "found that all papers were in order and that load of arms is compliant with the enclosed documentation", ARM General Staff said in the announcement.

This is confirmed in the record sheet rendered by the Ministry of Interior's Department for Illegal Trade and signed by representatives of ARM and MZT - Vehicles for Special Purposes Repair Shop, concludes the announcement.

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