Obscure al-Qaida-linked group claims attack on Japanese tanker in Persian Gulf
By APWednesday, August 4, 2010
Al-Qaida-linked group claims tanker attack in Gulf
CAIRO — An obscure al-Qaida-linked group says a suicide bomber attacked a Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf last week.
There have been conflicting reports about what happened to the M. Star supertanker, which was damaged in the Strait of Hormuz — a transit point for about 40 percent of tanker-shipped oil worldwide.
The Brigades of Abdullah Azzam has claimed responsibility for attacking the vessel in an Internet statement posted Wednesday.
A crew member was injured and the tanker sustained a square-shaped dent on the rear side of the hull.
The militant group gave no details. The statement has a picture of the purported bomber pointing to a photograph of the tanker on a laptop.
The ship’s owner Mitsui O.S.K. Lines says it’s investigating the claim.
