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http://www.thepost.kiev.ua/main/11946/ [The Ukrainian government was also interrogated and dressed down by NATO last week on the same topic.] Kiev Post October 3, 2002 U.S. plans to send experts to Ukraine amid concern it may have sold radar system to Iraq The Associated Press KYIV, October 3 - The United States plans to send experts to Ukraine to investigate whether the former Soviet republic sold a radar system to Iraq, and will consider punitive measures beyond the halt of US$54 million in aid, the U.S. ambassador said Wednesday. Agreement on the arrival of a U.S. team with military and technical expertise came during a two-day visit by Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones, who pressed President Leonid Kuchma on evidence that he personally approved the sale of a Kolchuha radar system to Iraq. Jones gave Ukrainian officials a list of questions that they promised to answer quickly, Ambassador Carlos Pascual said. He said no specific date was set for the follow-up visit by experts, but the Interfax news agency quoted Kuchma's chief of staff as saying they would arrive Oct. 13. Pascual said the visit by Jones, who led a delegation that also included representatives of the National Security Council, the Defense Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was "important and useful" and that Ukraine promised to cooperate with the U.S. probe. "We appreciate the statement on the part of the Ukrainian side to complete openness and transparency to try to reach a clear understanding of whether a transfer of the Kolchuha system has taken place," Pascual said. The State Department said last week that it had determined the authenticity of a recording from July 2000 in which Kuchma approved the sale of a Kolchuha system to Iraq in violation of U.N. sanctions. Ukrainian officials have denied a transfer took place. Chief prosecutor Sviatoslav Piskun said Wednesday that investigators from his office have determined Ukraine did not sell Kolchuha systems to Iraq. U.S. and British warplanes patrolling "no-fly" zones over Iraq are sometimes fired on from the ground. Pascual said the information Jones requested would "give us greater capacity to provide for the protection of American and British pilots" in the zones. In addition to expressing concerns about the radar, Jones also "emphasized the importance we place on engagement with Ukraine and supporting Ukraine's transition to democracy and a market economy," Pascual said. He said the United States will conduct a policy review that will include an examination of all assistance to Ukraine, which he said receives about US$230 million a year in U.S. aid. The US$54 million that has been halted is aid to the central government. Pascual said the decision made on the basis of the review will seek to sustain U.S. engagement and support for reform in Ukraine while also sending a "clear signal to other countries" that transfers of military technology to Iraq "will not be tolerated." The United States has made Ukraine one of its largest recipients of aid since the Soviet collapse, hoping to foster democracy and economic stability in the nation of 48 million on Russia's border, but reforms have been slow. Pascual said follow-up team would include people with military and technical expertise but would address "a whole range" of issues. While the possible sale to Iraq is the main worry, Washington is concerned other countries may have tried to buy Ukrainian arms, he said. The recording that prompted the U.S. concern was obtained from Mykola Melnychenko, a former presidential bodyguard who says he secretly recorded many hours of conversations in Kuchma's office. Melnychenko has since received asylum in the United States. The recordings, which also include an exchange Melnychenko says documents Kuchma's involvement in the death of a critical journalist two years ago, have heightened opposition calls for Kuchma's ouster. Kuchma has denied involvement in the journalist's death. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
