[Excerpt: On Thursday, the US State Department repeated long-standing concerns about the shipment of 100,000 automatic rifles and a number of helicopters....It accused Venezuela of starting an arms race....The Venezuelan ambassador to Russia, Carlos Mendoza Pottella, described such comments as absurd.]
http://212.58.240.132/1/hi/world/europe/4257911.stm Last Updated: Friday, 11 February, 2005, 16:03 GMT Russia defends Chavez arms deal Russia has rejected US claims that a planned arms shipment to Venezuela may end up in Colombian rebel hands. The Russian foreign ministry described the American objections as groundless - it said the deal with Venezuela did not break international law. On Thursday, the US State Department repeated long-standing concerns about the shipment of 100,000 automatic rifles and a number of helicopters. It accused Venezuela of starting an arms race. The Venezuelan ambassador to Russia, Carlos Mendoza Pottella, described such comments as absurd. He said the country was simply replacing its obsolete weaponry. Venezuela is also believed to be considering buying Russian MiG-29 fighter jets. Not at war Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told journalists that the purchase did not violate any laws or any of Moscow's international obligations. And a diplomatic source told Interfax news agency: "Russia, like any other state, has the right to develop military-technical co-operation with any country not under arms trade sanctions of the UN or other international organisations. "As far as we know, Venezuela is not in a state of war or conflict with any Latin American country." US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said on Thursday that the weapons could have a "destabilising effect" on the region. The US suspects Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of being sympathetic to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), the country's main left-wing rebel movement. The South American neighbours have recently been involved in a dispute after Colombia admitted paying bounty hunters who had captured a Farc leader in Caracas. Mr Chavez is due to meet Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Tuesday to seek a resolution. enditem ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
