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Iraqi paper accuses US of piracy in Gulf

BAGHDAD: An official Iraqi newspaper on Sunday accused the United States of piracy for seizing a tanker in the Gulf on suspicion of smuggling Iraqi oil.

"They are showing their subversive role by carrying out piracy in the Arab Gulf..," Al-Qadissiya said.

U.S. navy personnel, operating as part of a multinational patrol enforcing U.N. sanctions on Iraq, boarded the Russian tanker Volgoneft-147 on Wednesday on suspicion it was smuggling Iraqi oil.

The Pentagon said the ship would be held because of evidence it contained contraband.

Russia has said it may have been carrying legal Iranian fuel oil, rather than Iraqi contraband.

The ship is heading for Oman where it will be unloaded and its cargo inspected.-Reuters