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| 2003/09/22 |
Pak rejects free sheep from Australi
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02:55:55 �.�
Karachi, Sept 22 - Pakistan has rejected Australia's free offer of 57,000 sheep stranded in the Persian Gulf since Saudi Arabia rejected them five weeks ago,an official said Monday.
"We have formally conveyed our inability to handle such a huge consignment," Mumtaz Shaikh, additional secretary of the ministry of food, agriculture and livestock, told afp.
The livestock are stuck in a dispute between Australian and Saudi Arabia over their level of infection with the viral illness "scabby mouth", which causes cold sore-like scabs on the animals' mouths.
An australian on-board veterinarian found 0.38 percent are infected with the illness and rated them in "excellent health" but the Saudis say six percent are infected.
Five percent is agreed on by both Riyadh and Canberra as an acceptable infection rate.
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