Posted on 03/24/2003 2:17:01 PM PST by blam
Russia Denies Selling Weapons to Iraq
#-24-2003, 5 minutes ago
By JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW - Russian officials hotly denied U.S. accusations that Moscow had broken U.N. sanctions by selling sensitive military equipment to Iraq (news - web sites), including anti-tank guided missiles, night-vision goggles and jamming devices.
"We did not send any goods, including military ones, that violated the sanctions," Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told reporters. "No fact supporting the Americans' anxiety has been found."
This is not the first time Moscow has been accused of leaking sensitive technology to U.S. enemies in spite of pledges to tighten its export controls.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that three Russian companies were involved in the sales. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said Monday the equipment included night-vision goggles and global positioning system (news - web sites) jammers.
State Department officials said the equipment could pose a direct threat to coalition forces. Such sales would violate U.N. sanctions, which have let Iraq import only goods approved by the oil-for-food program.
Ivanov said the United States had requested reports on the alleged illicit sales several times since October, with Russia making its most recent report on March 17. If there were any indication that Russian companies had shipped such goods, it would be investigated as a serious violation of Russian law, he added.
Fleischer said at a White House briefing that he did not know whether Russia continues to help Iraq today, but he said U.S. officials have "asked the Russian government that any such ongoing assistance cease immediately."
"The United States has credible evidence that Russian companies have provided assistance and prohibited hardware to the Iraqi regime," Fleischer said. "These actions are disturbing and we've made our concerns clear."
Analysts here suggested the accusations were an attempt to discredit Russia after the Kremlin failed to support war against Iraq.
"It seems to me it is just an attempt to put pressure on Russia and make the position of Russia in regard to Iraq softer," said Anton Khlopkov, an analyst at Moscow's PIR nonproliferation think tank.
Andrei Kokoshin, a former head of the Russian Security Council, said he was "100 percent" sure that Russian companies had not sold prohibited equipment to Iraq, but said the goods could have been supplied by Russia to another country, which then resold them to Iraq.
He suggested Ukraine, which the United States claims agreed to sell a sophisticated radar system to Iraq in violation of the sanctions.
The Post identified two of the firms as KBP Tula and Aviaconversiya, a Moscow-based company, saying that KBP had supplied anti-tank guided missiles and Aviaconversiya provided the jamming devices.
Aviaconversiya director Oleg Antonov denied the claim and called it "conjecture."
"We have never delivered anything to Iraq," he said on Echo of Moscow radio.
The deputy director of Tula's instrument design office, Leonid Roshal, also denied the report, according to the news agency ITAR-Tass.
A spokesman for Russia's arms export agency, Rosoboronexport, said his organization "100 percent definitely had nothing to do with any sales and we have no information that such sales took place."
Rosoboronexport is the sole state intermediary for Russian military exports and imports.
A spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Moscow said on condition of anonymity that Moscow's response to the allegations "so far hasn't been satisfactory."
"We hope that the responsible Russian agencies will take our concerns seriously," he said.
Of course, I know the government is fully capable of putting the hammer down. And they should.
I also think we should encourage Putin by taking a more public stand promoting Russian suppression and elimination of the Chechnya terrorism. Just a thought or two.
Translation: A. We took them apart to be assembled in Iraq because when disassembled they are justr "parts". B. The Americans haven't FOUND anything yet.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.