Baku, July 18 (AZERTAC). Freight was expected in Bulgaria and was escorted by ten gendarmes. No measures have been taken against them so far. Romanian Military Prosecutor`s Office and Gendarmerie have started two parallel investigations.

Four boxes each containing 16 missile warheads were stolen Saturday afternoon from a train carrying armament from a plant in Zarnesti, Brasov, to Bulgaria. The disappearance of the 64 warheads was reported by the railway workers at the Stanesti Station (Giurgiu County), hen realizing the missing seal from the sliding door to one of the cars that was open. The train was in the Giurgiu Station awaiting customs clearance procedures. Judicial sources quoted by Mediafax say the warheads did not contain any explosive material but could be used for building home-made bombs. The same sources also say the train was supposed to only stop three times from Brasov to Bulgaria and that it was escorted by 10 gendarmes.

The Bucharest Military Prosecutor`s Office has started an investigation into the case, following a report by the Giurgiu County Gendarmerie Inspec­torate. An operative team headed by the military prosecutors went to the scene. One of the leads followed by investigators is that the devices were stolen to be sold as scrap iron.

The Romanian Gendarmerie has also sent a commission to Giurgiu to check if the gendarmes who were supposed to guard the train carrying armament had done their job or not. Romanian Gendarmerie spokesman Florin Hulea said the members of the commission would try to determine if they had been negligent, `in which case they will be punished and legal measures will be taken against them.`

Giurgiu authorities were generally mobilised and the Police decided to raise road barriers everywhere in the county, trying to capture the thieves. `The investigation is being conducted by the Military Prosecutor`s Office. The Giurgiu County Police Inspectorate (IJP) is performing specific duties in order to apprehend the perpetrators as soon as possible`, said IJP Giurgiu spokeswoman Mirela Gheta, quoted by Antena3 TV.

On the other hand, the representative of the Ministry of Defence claim the freight did not belong to the ministry, for which reason the institution did not need to be informed about it. The fact was also confirmed by judicial sources who say that it was a private armament export. `The train freight consisting of items of a military nature was private, meaning that the authorities did not need to be informed on the transport and route followed,` the quoted sources said. Officials of state-owned Romarm warhead manufacturer are also `washing their hands of` what happened. They claim the goods were sold by the company subsidiary from Tohan to a Bulgaria-based company which means that the warheads no longer belonged to the Romanian company. `When the military devices leave the Romarm premises, they are no longer our responsibility,` Realitatea.net quotes Romarm officials as having said.

MAI: missing warheads not dangerous

In a press conference held yesterday, the representatives of the Ministry of Administration and Interior (MAI) and those of the County Inspectorate of the Romanian Gendarmerie (IJJR) insisted that the missing warheads were nit war ammunition as the mass-media had initially claimed, and that they can only become dangerous if assembled into a system. `Taken separately, these components do not pose a risk. Only assembled and integrated into a system may they become hazardous,` said MAI spokesman Marius Militaru, according to Realitatea.net. The official added an investigation was under way and that no more details could be given for the time being.

Romanian Gendarmerie spokesman Florin Hulea in turn noted that IJJ had commenced its own investigation into how the transported ammunition was guarded. For now, the authorities cannot pronounce themselves as to the liability of the gendarmes who were providing the security of the transport,` Hulea also said. In other words, so far none of the ten gendarmes has been sanctioned or prosecuted in the affair, although they were interviewed by the Police yesterday.

MAE: freight stopped at Giurgiu has all required authorisations

In connection with the military freight stopped at Giurgiu, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) yesterday noted it was actually an intra-community export from Romania to Bulgaria that was accompanied by all the authorisations and documents required under the law and that any issues pertaining to the security of transportation was not in the ministry`s scope of competence. `The security of transportation does not fall under the scope of competence of MAE or Export Control department (D-ANCEX),` reads a MAE release. The competent authorities of the Romanian state will take all the necessary steps to determine the responsibility for what happened, the quoted source adds.

Badalan: the detachment guarding the train had not done their job

The Secretary of lower Chamber Defence Committee, Deputy Eugen Badalan, yesterday said that the theft of the warheads from the train transporting armament to Bulgaria was a criminal case, adding that the detachment that was supposed to guard the train had not done their job. Badalan said `the people who stole the warheads didn`t even know what they were stealing`. `I suspect they were stolen along a route where the theft of ferrous material is common business. The exceptional thing about it is that this was a special, secured freight. If the soldiers who were on the security mission had complied with the basic protocol, the theft wouldn`t have occurred,` Badalan said, according to Mediafax.

The former Chief of the General Staff thinks the case requires a criminal probe, that the prosecutors will classify the case as a criminal one and deal with it, with possible administrative measures to follow.