Posted on 02/18/2007 10:02:38 PM PST by Mount Athos
MIDDLE Eastern countries secretly armed and supported suspected al-Qa'ida recruits in the failed state of Somalia in a direct challenge to Western interests in east Africa, a UN report has revealed. Hundreds of Islamist fighters were flown, with Eritrean assistance, from Somalia to Syria and Libya for military training. Others were taken to Lebanon to fight with Hezbollah, the report to the UN security council says.
UN investigators detail the military aid given to the Islamists by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Arab states purportedly friendly to the West. Iran supplied 125 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, 80 of which arrived by sea in dhows and the rest by air.
A clandestine operation to smuggle the fighters out of Somalia began in July last year.
Evgueny Zakharov, the owner of Aerolift, an airline with a fleet of ageing Antonov and Ilyushin transport aircraft based in Johannesburg but registered in the British Virgin Islands, said in an interview: "We transported lots of men in uniform -- Arab men with masks.
"They were disciplined men and although none of them had rank badges there were obviously people in charge. They got on the aircraft as if they had done it many times before."
Mr Zakharov said his involvement began after he was approached by a General Tambi of the Eritrean People's Defence Forces. Eritrea, a neighbour of Somalia in the volatile Horn of Africa, was a major supporter of the Islamists.
General Tambi offered to buy Mr Zakharov's Ilyushin 76 transport aircraft carrying the Kazakhstan registration number UN76496 for $US1.5million ($1.9million), even though the normal price for an aircraft of that vintage and condition is just $US1million. Mr Zakharov went ahead, despite unusual contract conditions that stipulated secrecy.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...
interesting ...
Caution, masks may not ward off AC-130s.
Eritrea has warned the US its involvement in Somalia would "incur dangerous consequences" following air strikes targeting al-Qaeda suspects in the country.
The warning was issued in a statement on the country's Information Ministry website.
It said: "President Isaias Afwerki underlined that the turmoil being created in Somalia by the US administration through its mercenary agent (Ethiopia) would incur dangerous consequences."
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/12012007/356/eritrea-warns-somalia.html#
Evgueny Zakharov, the owner of Aerolift, an airline with a fleet of ageing Antonov and Ilyushin transport aircraft based in Johannesburg but registered in the British Virgin Islands, said in an interview: "We transported lots of men in uniform -- Arab men with masks.
"They were disciplined men and although none of them had rank badges there were obviously people in charge. They got on the aircraft as if they had done it many times before."
Oh crap, Eritrea has put us on notice.
Egypt gets more U.S. aid than any other country. Cut them off.
Saudi Arabia needs a little touch up in diplomacy. I'd start by taking away our understanding with them that we'll help them against Iran.
Oil is fungible. It has to be sold or there IS no money for palaces.
Eritrea? Isn't that the country where they eat sand?
Perhaps they need a little Agent Orange to go with it?
As you can tell, I'm getting really tired of this ****!
I can't sleep I'm so scared! We should probably just send a troop of militant Cub Scouts in to finish them off.
Interesting.
Antonov, known as Antonov Aeronautical Scientific/Technical Complex (Antonov ASTC) (Ukrainian: Авіаційний науково-технічний комплекс імені Антонова, АНТК ім. Антонова) is a Ukraine-based (since 1952) aircraft manufacturing and services company (design office prefix An) with particular expertise in the field of very large aircraft construction.
SNIP
The Antonov company lacks facilities for full construction of some aircraft, a result of Soviet industrial strategy that split military production between different regions of the USSR. This distribution minimized potential war risks, and prevented Soviet republics from developing self-sufficient economies. As a result, Antonov airplanes were often constructed by aerospace companies in Kharkiv (Ukraine), Novosibirsk (Russia), and Tashkent (Uzbekistan).
SNIP
Whilst less famous, the An-24 'Coke', An-26 'Curl' and An-30 'Clank' series of twin turboprop, high winged, passenger transport aircraft are important for domestic air services particularly in parts of the world once led by communist governments.
Ilyushin (Russian: Илью́шин) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) design bureau and aircraft manufacturer (design office prefix Il), founded by Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin.
It began operations on January 13, 1933, by order of the People's Commissar of the Heavy Industry of the USSR and the Head of the Main Department of Aviation Industry, P.I.Baranov
Aviation Industries Ilyushin is a subsidiary established in 1992 to act as Ilyushin's marketing and customer service arm.
Ilyushin has developed aircraft for widely varying roles over the years. The Russian government is planning to merge Ilyushin with Mikoyan, Irkut, Sukhoi, Tupolev, and Yakovlev as a new company named United Aircraft Building Corporation.[1]
Really? I agree with cutting them off from aid. But your assertion is not accurate.
Regards.
I think Israel gets more--but a lot is military. Isn't Egypt the country that gets the most in pure civilian aid?
I do not understand the whole foreign aid thing but aid to Islamics is foolish.
Regards.
Hundreds of Islamist fighters were flown, with Eritrean assistance, from Somalia to Syria and Libya for military training. Others were taken to Lebanon to fight with Hezbollah, the report to the UN security council says... Iran supplied 125 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, 80 of which arrived by sea in dhows and the rest by air. A clandestine operation to smuggle the fighters out of Somalia began in July last year.
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