South Korea Cracks Down on "Human Flesh Capsules"
South Korean authorities say they plan to crackdown on the illegal smuggling of so-called "human flesh capsules". The pills contain parts of human foetuses or infants and are believed to be sold as stamina enhancement drugs. But customs officials say they can cause serious health problems. Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay is in Seoul.

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Tackling the Trade in Human Flesh Pills
BBC: South Korea has stepped up customs inspections to try and stop capsules filled with powdered human flesh being smuggled into the country from China.

Thousands of the pills have been found in luggage and in the post, often disguised as energy boosters.

Catharina Moh reports Watch BBC video » | Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Smuggling Alcohol to Iran

Oman Navigates Between Iran and Arab Nations
Iranian smugglers operating last month at a port in Khasab, Oman, across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran. The smuggling is aided and taxed by officials in Oman. Photo credit: The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: MUSCAT, Oman — As Iran finds itself locked in an escalating cold war-style conflict with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations, the quietly influential Sultanate of Oman has accelerated its cooperation with Tehran, nurturing an alliance that helps empower Iran while highlighting the deep divisions among Arab capitals.

Oman, a strategically vital, insistently pragmatic country, has refused overtures of its larger neighbors to pull away from Iran. Instead, it defied Egypt and Saudi Arabia by declining to join them in boycotting a summit meeting in Qatar in January that was held to support Hamas, the Iranian-backed militant group. The Iranian news agency Fars said that Oman and Iran were close to completing a security pact.

The close ties between Iran and Oman, and the reasons behind them, help explain the West’s failure to cripple Iran with trade sanctions, as well as the inability of Iran’s Arab opponents to build a unified opposition to its growing regional influence.

“For us, this is the expression of being realistic,” said Salim al-Mahruqi, a former Omani diplomat who had served in Washington. He now works for the Culture Ministry here in Muscat, the capital city.

“Iran is a big neighbor, and it is there to stay,” he said.

Oman, like Syria and Qatar, sees in Iran an important political and economic ally that is too powerful and too potentially dangerous to ignore, let alone antagonize. Even the United Arab Emirates, which is battling with Iranian leaders over the title to three Persian Gulf islands, has done little to stop billions of dollars in annual trade with Iran.

Rarely in the news, Oman has long been a pivotal behind-the-scenes player in the region. It is an absolute monarchy, led since 1970 by Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who has fostered a diplomatic approach that gives his nation the unique status of having close ties to both Iran and the United States.

Oman has at times served as a go-between for the two nations, and it has left open the possibility that the United States could use Omani military bases for staging operations in the region.

Unlike Syria and Qatar, which want larger regional roles, Oman is strictly focused on bolstering its domestic stability. Omanis continue the relationship with Iran because of historic ties, because they know it could easily overrun their nation, if it so chose, and because it has for generations been an important commercial partner. >>> By Michael Slackman* | Friday, May 15, 2009

*Mona el-Naggar contributed reporting from Oman.