Posted on 11/26/2002 4:51:34 PM PST by knighthawk
KIEV, Ukraine (Reuters) - The United States and Britain voiced concerns in public in Ukraine Tuesday that Kiev had sold Baghdad a radar detection system through a third party.
Ambassadors to Ukraine from the two countries said they were especially worried about Kiev's military sales to China.
China said it had no information about the systems and it had enforced U.N. sanctions against Iraq strictly.
In a joint news conference in the Ukrainian capital, the U.S. and British envoys said lingering suspicions that the "Kolchuga" radar detection system found its way into Iraqi hands were bedeviling relations between their countries and Kiev.
"We can say that we cannot rule out the possibility that a transfer took place through a third party and that is a concern," U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual said.
The ambassadors said U.N. weapons inspectors about to resume their mission to search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, would also keep an eye out for Kolchugas used on the ground.
If the system, which detects radar without itself emitting any signal, is in operation in Iraq, it would complicate any U.S.-led military action against Baghdad and threaten U.S. and British pilots patrolling "no-fly zones" in Iraq, set up after the 1991 Gulf War. Experts sent to Ukraine by Washington and London said they had found no evidence backing Ukraine's denials it had sold the system to Iraq.
The mission put more pressure on President Leonid Kuchma, accused by the United States to have approved the sale, to explain gaps in the ex-Soviet state's evidence.
"One of the things the United States would like to do is set a clear example that military transfers to Iraq will not be tolerated and that this will have a cost," Pascual said.
Washington cut aid to Ukraine when it said it had authenticated part of a tape in which Kuchma is alleged to have approved the sale of the Kolchuga.
DISCREPANCIES
Pascual referred to the experts' report, issued by the State Department Monday, saying the sale of four Kolchugas had been unaccounted for.
He said sales to China had raised "special concern" because of discrepancies between Ukraine's explanations and documentation.
As reported by the experts, Ukraine said the "end-user clause" in the contract -- which would prohibit the buyer from transferring the Kolchuga systems to third countries without Ukraine's approval -- was modified at China's request.
But Pascual said when Ukraine showed experts a copy of the clause, there was no modification and officials could not explain why the two stories did not fit.
"At this point we have not taken up those questions directly with the Chinese," Pascual said, adding that the report and a number of queries had been passed on to a sanctions committee on Iraq grouping all 15 members of the U.N. Security Council.
Earlier, China's Foreign Ministry said it had no information on the systems, adding it had enforced U.N. sanctions against Iraq strictly and that Sino-Ukrainian dealings were in line with international practice.
"Therefore, basically there does not exist any issue of China reselling radar systems to Iraq," spokesman Kong Quan told a news conference in Beijing.
In the report, the experts also raised questions about Ukraine's account of how many systems it had produced. They also asked why Kiev had denied that Iraqi personnel had visited the region where Kolchugas are made when evidence pointed to the contrary.
Both ambassadors suggested they were not expecting to receive answers to questions raised by the experts soon.
"We remain concerned for the safety of the U.S and British pilots who are patrolling the no-fly zones over the north and south of Iraq," British Ambassador Robert Brinkley said.
"At any time if the Ukrainians can give us more information which would help to clarify the question over the transfer of the Kolchuga we would be glad to have that information."
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