US 'aware of' Kenyan arms shipments

The US government has been aware of Kenyan arms shipments to Southern Sudan for years, the latest diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks reveal.
The cables show that US diplomats under President Barack Obama asked Kenya to stop the shipments in 2009.
Kenyan officials reacted with anger because the government of President George W Bush had not objected to their support for Southern Sudan.
Wikileaks has so far released more than 1,100 of 251,000 secret US cables.
Many of the cables from the US embassy in Nairobi describe conversations about the Kenya-bound freight ship Faina that was seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden in September 2008.
The Ukrainian vessel, released after five months for a $3.2m ransom was packed with weapons, including more than 30 tanks.
The Kenyan government publicly rejected accusations that the load on the Faina was an arms shipment for Southern Sudan's army, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).
However, cables published by the New York Times show that US officials knew that the arms on the Faina were originally heading for Southern Sudan and were aware of Kenya's engagement in Southern Sudan.