Friday, June 17, 2011

Egyptian X-File reopened : Badr I

I know that once Mubarak was toppled many Egyptian x-files will be reopened , some of them will be closed while other files while will have no answer and remain open.
One of the files that has been reopened again was the file of Badr I vessel's disappearance , this file was already so painful. A whole vessel disappears between Sudan and Egypt in the red sea with no trace and the families  of its crew know nothing about its men for nearly three years. We do not know if they are alive or dead , we do not know where this vessel was or what happened to it. It was sad that before the toppling of Mubarak the mainstream media ignored the matter for years.We do not have Bermuda triangle last time I checked in the red sea.
Despite how the mainstream media ignored this case, the families have not given up for one second and this is what after the toppling of the media they filed complains at the general prosecution office as well as the cabinet and prime minister’s office. They also reached out to the media and they found at last a window to ask one question : Where are our men !?


One of the crew members’ mother says that someone told her that the the crew members were alive and were imprisoned at Wadi El Natroun prison !! Of course this claim is extremely dangerous and makes me wonder what this vessel was actually carrying as a cargo. Of course this is nothing compared to what the owner of vessel claimed or showed on Modern Misr channel with Moataz Matar.
Interestingly enough the owner of Badr I , Ashraf Farag showed a documented allegedly from the military intelligence that dates back to 2008 stating that Badr I was hijacked by Israel by French request between Egypt and Sudan on suspicion that the vessel was transferring arms to rebels from Chad.  Allegedly the fate of Badr I was known to the American navy as well and Germany.
Moataz Matar ; Israel hijacked
This is the first time in the history of Egyptian media we saw an alleged document from the military intelligence in this way. I do not know how the media ignored this thing. This is an old document allegedly from time of Mubarak.This is supposedly a confidential report , how it reached to the hands of the owner despite it is about his vessel.  As far as I know there is no official reaction about the document.
Anyhow when I think about what came in the document I could buy it because the Mubarak regime was too damn coward to announce something like that in public for fear it would affect our relations with Israel and France. Before you accuse me of being biased against Israel then you must tell me how a ship like that disappears in an area faraway from any pirates all these years and why the Mubarak regime attacked as if these sailors were not humans. The ship did not sink.
I am glad the case is reopened again and I feel angry already that the media ignored these families for real. I hope that the crew is still alive despite all those years , of course if they were truly at Wadi El Natroun prison then we need to prosecute who ever imprisoned them all those years and if Israel and France are behind its disappearance then they say it.
I am so surprised that human rights organizations are not standing with El Badr I crew’s families all those years.
Here is another video clip this time from ONTV showing the pleas of the crew’s families.
ONTV : The mystery of Badr I
Here is a Facebook group dedicated to the matter :

5 comments:

  1. Why did I NEVER hear about this before!? I feel so shocked and embarrassed!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Why do you believe that there was no prohibited goods? Just because it was during Mubarak? Just because all the revolution turns on its head?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous said...

    Why do you believe that there was no prohibited goods? Just because it was during Mubarak? Just because all the revolution turns on its head?
    _____________________________________________________

    There aren't really "prohibited goods" in international waters, no country has jurisdiction there as long as you aren't attacking other ships and taking hold of their cargo-acts of piracy. According to maritime law, it's no one's business what commodities are being transferred by a vessel when it's in international waters, be it drugs, heroine, cocaine, arms etc. eventually a ship has to dock somewhere, once it enters territorial waters of a country then it becomes the business of that state. In this situation contraband does not have a definition. A ship may be carrying marijuana- which is illegal in many countries- but perfectly legal where it could be heading. Even some hard drugs like heroine is legal in Rotterdam. This does not apply though on international waterways like canals where the state or states controlling the waterway have full jurisdiction to board a ship and inspect and confiscate its freight if it didn't comply with the state own laws or required a permission for a specific load before entering the waterway.

    Regardless of the shipload of Badr 1, I believe the main issue here is what happened to the crew; the cargo in this case is beyond trivial.

    ReplyDelete
  4. First time I hear of this very strange and tragic news. Terrible agony for the mothers. I hope and pray that the crew are alive and will be home safe soon. Please keep us posted.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Why are you bringing Sudan into this?

    Sudan's territory and territorial waters off of Halayeb are under illegal, unilateral 'occupation' by Egypt.

    The vessel 'was not' on its way to Sudan.

    Which rebels were arms allegedly being smuggled to?

    And how is it conceivable that landlocked Chad, Sudan's 'Western' neighbour, and a country that has no borders with Egypt, would be implicated in a route involving Sudan's 'eastern' Red Sea coast?

    I don't regret my sympathy with the 'revolution' in Egypt but I'm sorry to say that myself and many other Sudanese are extremely disappointed by the hypocrisy of its leaders.

    Everything Mubarak's regime did is under scrutiny apart from the decision to invade and occupy Halayeb when Sudan's armed forces were embroiled in the South...?

    International arbitration is accepted with Israel over Taba but not with Sudan over Halayeb...

    ReplyDelete

Thank You for your comment
Please keep it civilized here, racist and hateful comments are not accepted
The Comments in this blog with exclusion of the blog's owner does not represent the views of the blog's owner.