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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| US protests at Russian arms sales to Baghdad |
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| sabri |
| 03/24/03 at 12:35:11 |
| [slm] Peter Slevin Monday March 24, 2003 The Guardian The United States protested to the government of President Vladimir Putin Saturday for refusing to stop Russian arms dealers from providing illegal weapons and assistance to the Iraqi military. Bush administration sources said one Russian company was helping the Iraqi military to deploy electronic jamming equipment against US planes and bombs, and two others had sold anti-tank missiles and thousands of night-vision goggles in violation of UN sanctions. They said Moscow has ignored entreaties from Bush administration officials concerned about the threat to US forces. During more than a year of intensifying discussions, the Russian officials initially denied the existence of the company that allegedly sold at least a half-dozen devices designed to confound global positioning system guidance gear used in aircraft and bombs, US officials said. Later, the Russians assured the Americans that they were closely watching the company. "The stuff's there, it's on the ground and they're trying to use it against us," said a well-placed US official who requested anonymity. Administration officials have long been frustrated with Russia's failure to crack down on arms sales and technology transfers to countries the US government considers state sponsors of terrorism, including Iran and Syria. The Russians say the goods are legal or benign, or assert that the business is done by private firms over which the Kremlin has no control. However, US officials said Russian officials in Moscow and diplomats in Washington had provided Russian authorities with names, addresses, telephone numbers and, in some cases, shipping dates and ports of exit. The Bush administration reserved its highest-level efforts for halting the delivery of the jamming devices, which officials said sell for thousands of dollars apiece and can interfere with global positioning equipment important to aircraft navigation and ground forces. Complaints from US officials had escalated in recent weeks, and earlier this month the Russian ambassador, Yuri Ushakov, was summoned to the state department to discuss the matter. [wlm] |
| Re: US protests at Russian arms sales to Baghdad |
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| SuperHiMY |
| 03/24/03 at 13:00:59 |
[img]http://tyo.ca/islambank.community/albums/1/slm30.gif[/img] Maybe the Bush Administration could take this issue to the United Nations General Assembly or Security Council ? Of course U.S. made military material does find its way to the State of Israel on a regular basis and the Russians don't complain about that. |
| 03/24/03 at 13:03:37 |
| SuperHiMY |
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