quickniejszy
07.03.03, 23:37
USA Powinno zbombardować Francje.
Francuzi nawet w ostatnich miesiącach w obliczu nadchodzącej wojny tajemnie
sprzedawali Iraqowi części do francuskich helikopterów Gazelle i francuskich
odrzutowców Mirage F-1.
Iraq strengthens air force with French parts
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
A French company has been selling spare parts to Iraq for its fighter jets
and military helicopters during the past several months, according to U.S.
intelligence officials.
The unidentified company sold the parts to a trading company in the United
Arab Emirates, which then shipped the parts through a third country into Iraq
by truck.
The spare parts included goods for Iraq's French-made Mirage F-1 jets and
Gazelle attack helicopters.
An intelligence official said the illegal spare-parts pipeline was discovered
in the past two weeks and that sensitive intelligence about the transfers
indicates that the parts were smuggled to Iraq as recently as January.
Other intelligence reports indicate that Iraq had succeeded in acquiring
French weaponry illegally for years, the official said.
The parts appear to be included in an effort by the Iraqi military to build
up materiel for its air forces before any U.S. military action, which could
occur before the end of the month.
The officials identified the purchaser of the parts as the Al Tamoor Trading
Co., based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A spokesman for the company could
not be reached for comment.
The French military parts were then sent by truck into Iraq from a
neighboring country the officials declined to identify.
Iraq has more than 50 Mirage F-1 jets and an unknown number of Gazelle attack
helicopters, according to the London-based International Institute for
Strategic Studies.
An administration official said the French parts transfers to Iraq may be one
reason France has so vehemently opposed U.S. plans for military action
against Iraq. "No wonder the French are opposing us," this official said.
The official, however, said intelligence reports of the parts sale did not
indicate that the activity was sanctioned by the French government or that
Paris knows about the transfers.
The intelligence reports did not identify the French company involved in
selling the aircraft parts or whether the parts were new or used.
The Mirage F-1 was made by France's Dassault Aviation. Gazelle helicopters
were made by Aerospatiale, which later became part of a consortium of
European defense companies.
The importation of military goods by Iraq is banned under U.N. Security
Council resolutions passed since the 1991 Persian Gulf war.
Nathalie Loiseau, press counselor at the French Embassy, said her government
has no information about the spare-parts smuggling and has not been
approached by the U.S. government about the matter.
"We fully comply with the U.N. sanctions, and there is no sale of any kind of
military material or weapons to Iraq," she said.
A CIA spokesman had no comment.
A senior administration official declined to discuss Iraq's purchase of
French warplane and helicopter parts. "It is well known that the Iraqis use
front companies to try to obtain a number of prohibited items," the official
said.
The disclosure comes amid heightened anti-French sentiment in the United
States over Paris' opposition to U.S. plans for using force to disarm Iraq.
A senior defense official said France undermined U.S. efforts to disarm Iraq
last year by watering down language of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441
that last fall required Iraq to disarm all its chemical, biological and
nuclear weapons programs.
France, along with Russia, Germany and China, said yesterday that they would
block a joint U.S.-British U.N. resolution on the use of force against Iraq.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told reporters in Paris on
Wednesday that France "will not allow a resolution to pass that authorizes
resorting to force."
"Russia and France, as permanent members of the Security Council, will assume
their full responsibilities on this point," he stated.
France has been Iraq's best friend in the West. French arms sales to Baghdad
were boosted in the 1970s under Premier Jacques Chirac, the current
president. Mr. Chirac once called Saddam Hussein a "personal friend."
During the 1980s, when Paris backed Iraq in its war against Iran, France sold
Mirage fighter bombers and Super Entendard aircraft to Baghdad, along with
Exocet anti-ship missiles.
French-Iraqi ties soured after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait that led to the
1991 Persian Gulf war.
France now has an estimated $4 billion in debts owed to it by Iraq as a
result of arms sales and infrastructure construction projects. The debt is
another reason U.S. officials believe France is opposing military force to
oust Saddam.
Henry Sokolski, director of the private Nonproliferation Policy Education
Center, said French transfers of military equipment to Iraq would have "an
immediate and relevant military consequence, if this was done."
"The United States with its allies are going to suppress the Iraqi air force
and air defense very early on in any conflict, and it's regrettable that the
French have let a company complicate that mission," Mr. Sokolski said.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell last month released intelligence
information showing videotape of an Iraqi F-1 Mirage that had been modified
to spray anthrax spores.
A CIA report to Congress made public in January stated that Iraq has
aggressively sought advanced conventional arms. "A thriving gray-arms market
and porous borders have allowed Baghdad to acquire smaller arms and
components for larger arms, such as spare parts for aircraft, air defense
systems, and armored vehicles," the CIA stated.
Iraq also has obtained some military goods through the U.N.-sponsored oil-for-
food program.
A second CIA report in October on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
stated: "Iraq imports goods using planes, trains, trucks, and ships without
any type of international inspections — in violation of UN Security Council
resolutions."
