Nigeria grants bail to Iran arms shipment suspect

Reuters

23 December 2010

Nigeria grants bail to Iran arms shipment suspect

A Nigerian court granted bail on Thursday to an alleged member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, who along with three Nigerians was charged last month with illegally importing arms into the West African country.

Nigeria reported the seizure of the shipment -- including rockets and other explosives hidden in containers of building materials -- to the U.N. Security Council in November for an apparent breach of U.N. sanctions on Iran.

Azim Adhajani, identified on the charge sheet as a Tehran-based businessman and member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, was granted 20 million naira bail. He has said he is not guilty.

"The gestures of the Iranian Embassy have gone down well with the state, hence the absence of opposition to the bail application ... consequently the accused is hereby granted bail," Judge Ishaq Bello said in the high court in Abuja.

He said the trial would begin on Jan. 31.

The four suspects were also charged with conspiring to re-export the illegal shipment to Banjul, Gambia.