Subject: [NEXTEL-1] The Moscow Times- Sparks Fly Over U.S. Claims of (GPS Jammers)Sales to Iraq

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2003 19:08:34 -0500

Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2003. Page 1

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Sparks Fly Over U.S. Claims of Sales to Iraq

By Simon Saradzhyan
Staff Writer

Washington and Moscow traded barbs over Iraq on Monday, with U.S. President
George W. Bush complaining that Russian companies were selling defense equipment
to Baghdad and President Vladimir Putin warning that steps must be taken to avoid a
humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq.
In a telephone call initiated by Washington, Bush told Putin he was concerned that a
Russian company was helping Iraq jam navigation signals used by U.S. warplanes and
cruise missiles, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
Fleischer said at an earlier briefing that the United States has credible evidence that
Russian companies have provided assistance and prohibited hardware to the Iraqi
regime, including night vision goggles, GPS jammers and anti-tank guided missiles.
"These actions are disturbing, and we have made our concerns clear to the Russian
government. We've asked the Russian government that any such ongoing assistance
cease immediately," he said.
Putin used the phone call to warn Bush about a looming humanitarian catastrophe
brought about by war.
"Putin confirmed Russia's stated position on an Iraq settlement and stressed the need
to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in the region," the Kremlin press service said in a
statement.
The Kremlin gave no indication of how Putin responded to Bush's complaint, but a
number of government and defense industry officials indignantly denied that Russian
companies have supplied defense equipment to the Iraqi regime in violation of UN
sanctions.
"Russia rigorously observes all its international obligations and has not supplied Iraq
with any equipment, including military, in breach of the sanctions regime," Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov said, responding to a Sunday report in The Washington Post.
The newspaper quoted Bush administration sources as saying that the Instrument
Design Bureau of Tula, or KBP, and Aviakonversia in Moscow have supplied Iraq with
anti-tank missiles and jamming equipment, respectively. The report said Aviakonversia
staff were in Iraq training specialists how to operate the 3-kilogram devices.
While dismissing the report, Ivanov said that if violations of the sanctions regime are
found, the guilty parties will be punished in accordance with Russian law.
Ivanov's denial was echoed by Putin aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky and the government's
deputy chief of staff, Alexei Volin.
Iraq's ambassador to Russia, Abbas Kunfuth, dismissed the Washington Post report as
propaganda.
Aviakonversia and KBP officials also denied selling any equipment.
KBP's foreign trade chief, Leonid Roshal, told Itar-Tass that no Kornet anti-tank
missiles had been sold to Iraq. The company's first deputy director, Alexei Butenko,
said "nothing ever" had been sent to Iraq. The United States slapped sanctions on
KBP in 1999 after it sent Kornets to Syria.
Aviakonversia director general Oleg Antonov described the report as "another CIA
provocation."
Antonov, speaking in a telephone interview, said his company has not supplied Iraq
with any jammers or sent any personnel to train Iraqi troops.
He said Russian law enforcers checked and cleared his company after the U.S. State
Department summoned Russia's ambassador to the United States, Yury Ushakov, in
September to protest the alleged sales.
Antonov noted, however, that Aviakonversia's jamming devices cannot be regulated
under Russian law because they are assembled outside Russia. He confirmed his
company has an office in Moscow but would not elaborate on where the devices are
assembled.
Aviakonversia has had to deal with accusations of dealing with Iraq before. Kuwait's
Al-Qabas newspaper reported in 2000 that Iraq had used two Aviakonversia jamming
devices to force U.S. fighters to abort a patrol of a no-fly zone.
Russian officials and Antonov denied the report.
The Defense Ministry and Rosoboronexport, the state-owned company that accounts
for most of Russia's arms exports, also rejected the Washington Post report.
The White House's claims are far from a sign that a major crisis is brewing in
U.S.-Russian ties, said Ivan Safranchuk, a researcher at the Moscow office of the
Center of Defense Information.
"There is a cloud, but it is not raining," he said.
Safranchuk noted that Kremlin officials have been careful not to antagonize the Bush
administration in their criticism of the U.S.-led campaign in Iraq.
Putin, who condemned the war as "a big political mistake" last week, made what might
have been a conciliatory gesture Monday and urged Iraq to obey international
conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war.
"We are aware of the conditions in which POWs ... are being held by the U.S. side,"
Putin told Cabinet members. "I hope that the Iraqi side will also meet all the
requirements of international law on keeping POWs."
Putin spoke after hearing a report by Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu on
efforts to set up camps in Iran for Iraqi refugees.
In another sign that Moscow does not want to strain relations with Washington, the
Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, announced Monday that it plans to
call for the swift ratification of a U.S.-Russian nuclear arms reduction treaty. The lower

house of parliament, the State Duma, decided last week to postpone the ratification of
the Moscow Treaty to protest the war in Iraq.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry renewed its calls Monday for an end to the military
campaign in Iraq and urged that the Iraq crisis be put back on the agenda of the UN
Security Council.
"The United Nations and the Security Council cannot, of course, remain without
getting involved in what is happening in Iraq," Foreign Minister Ivanov said.
However, even if convened, the council might fail to pass any resolution condemning
the war. Russia, France and Germany, which oppose the use of force in Iraq, tried to
convene a council session last week, but their bid fell through due to opposition by the
United States and Britain.
Acknowledging the threat of a continued deadlock, Ivanov said changes needed to be
made to the Security Council. He said Russia and "its partners" were discussing
possible changes.
"Russia has stressed before that the UN and its Security Council need to be reformed
to reflect the real situation in the world," he said, without elaborating.
Earlier Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Fedotov suggested that the Security
Council provide an assessment of the war -- which in diplomatic language means that
the council should hold the United States and Britain responsible for the military
campaign and its consequences.

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From: "sparkie_rf" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2003 19:25:56 -0000

I'm sick and tired of listening to all this complete B****** from 
Russia, china and France.

They were all actively selling UN-banned products and services to 
IRAQ and have been doing so for years.

It high time that Commander-in-Chief Bush declares a new AXIS!!!

The AXIS of GREED: France, Russia, and China.

We all know (thanks to the Pink Floyd boys) that money is the root 
of all evil. And we all now know who belongs to the AXIS of EVIL.

PS. How can you spot a Frenchmen with dignity?************-----EDITED

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From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2003 14:39:05 -0500

Ok, Sparkie take it easy I had to edit you message we do have some Kids here.

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From: "sparkie_rf" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 01:33:38 -0000

> Ok, Sparkie take it easy I had to edit you message we do have some 
Kids here.

Wilco, Commander Marcel.