The Hindu : International / India & World : Plane was not detained, says U.S. Embassy

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Thursday, Sep 30, 2004

International

International - India & World

Plane was not detained, says U.S. Embassy

By Siddharth Varadarajan

KATHMANDU, SEPT. 29. The United States Embassy in Nepal today denied that an official consignment of weapons meant for "anti-terrorist" training of the Nepal police had been detained by the Indian authorities.

Constance Golding-Jones, a spokesperson of the embassy, told The Hindu that a Bulgarian plane carrying the consignment arrived in India around 7.30 a.m. on Wednesday itself and left shortly after 11 a.m. "The plane was not detained. This was a cleared flight and the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi had informed the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in advance."

Asked how the plane could have landed only on Wednesday morning when sources in the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation had confirmed to The Hindu on Tuesday that the plane was being detained by them, Ms. Jones insisted the plane took off from Bulgaria only on Tuesday night.

The plane was only delayed in India "for a couple of hours" due to "technical reasons," Ms. Jones said adding that there was "nothing nefarious" about the cargo. "The United States conducts training with the Nepalese police under the State Department's Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA) programme and the plane was carrying equipment for that. This programme runs in many countries and it is not specific to the Maoist issue," she said.

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