US backs down over Yemen missile seizure

PRESIDENT Bush’s administration was left with egg on its face last night after a debacle when a cargo of North Korean missiles was seized at gun point then allowed to sail to the original destination.

Spy satellites had tracked the Yemen-bound freighter since it left a North Korean port last month with 15 Scud missiles hidden under a cargo of 40,000 bags of cement.

Two Spanish warships intercepted the vessel in the Arabian Sea last night but it only obeyed orders to stop when shots were fired across its bows.