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http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/du/Qukraine-iraq-arrive.RLde_COD.html Investigators arrive in Ukraine to probe radar sales to Iraq -The 13-member team, which arrived from Warsaw for a 10-day stay, was registered as British but may include some delegates from the United States, the sources said. -The probe is expected to last 10 days, according to the US embassy, which did not give further details. -The US government late last month accused Kuchma of personally authorizing the sale of Kolchuga military radar equipment to Iraq in defiance of UN embargoes. Kuchma vehemently denied the allegations, which his foreign minister described as "unacceptable". KIEV, Oct 13 (AFP) - International experts arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Sunday to probe alleged sales of military radar to Iraq, airport sources said. The 13-member team, which arrived from Warsaw for a 10-day stay, was registered as British but may include some delegates from the United States, the sources said. A Ukraine presidency spokeswoman, Olena Gromnytska, said the delegation was to meet Monday with the head of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma's administration, Viktor Medvedchuk. The probe is expected to last 10 days, according to the US embassy, which did not give further details. Kiev has said it is prepared to reveal certain technical details about the Kolchuga radars, as well as naming the countries which have bought the radar systems and intermediary firms. Inspectors will be allowed to investigate the radar's manufacturers, the Topaz factory in the eastern city of Donetsk. Kiev also created a commission to "facilitate" and "coordinate" the inspections. The US government late last month accused Kuchma of personally authorizing the sale of Kolchuga military radar equipment to Iraq in defiance of UN embargoes. Kuchma vehemently denied the allegations, which his foreign minister described as "unacceptable". Yulia Timoshenko, a former deputy prime minister now facing corruption charges, said on Friday that the government had acquired a Kolchuga system from Belarus to fill gaps in its inventory and deceive inspectors. Defense ministry officials denied the charge. The experts' visit coincides with growing internal opposition to Kuchma's autocratic style. Political opponents on right and left have accused him of corruption, and recent demonstrations have demanded his resignation. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/dg/Qukraine-politics.RdoB_COC.html Kuchma in focus as US and British weapons inspectors check on Iraq arms sales Anya Tsukanova -And as leader of a former Soviet republic seeking membership in NATO, Kuchma and his team have noticeably failed to welcome the US and British weapons delegation with open arms. Ukraine's foreign ministry has sent a statement to the US ambassador in Kiev saying it was "inadmissible" to accuse Kuchma of peddling radar systems that could detect US stealth bombers to Iraq. The US State Department "has disseminated information that was gained from dubious sources, which caused moral damage to Ukraine and its president." KIEV, Oct 13 (AFP) - With the noise of street protests outside his office windows and US and British weapons inspectors landing Sunday to check if he sold sensitive arms to Iraq, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma looks like an increasingly shaky Western ally. And as leader of a former Soviet republic seeking membership in NATO, Kuchma and his team have noticeably failed to welcome the US and British weapons delegation with open arms. Ukraine's foreign ministry has sent a statement to the US ambassador in Kiev saying it was "inadmissible" to accuse Kuchma of peddling radar systems that could detect US stealth bombers to Iraq. The US State Department "has disseminated information that was gained from dubious sources, which caused moral damage to Ukraine and its president." The United States has not responded yet, but US and British officials will meet with Kuchma's administration Monday before setting off to inspect the Kolchug radar installations stationed in Ukraine as well as the Topaz factory that produces them. The crisis in relations follows an unfortunate pattern for Kuchma's regime that sees the West eye him with growing skepticism and the local opposition -- both on the right and the left -- accuse him of corruption. The US accusations over radars come from a taped conversation Kuchma allegedly held in his office with a man responsible for some of the Ukrainian arms sales. That man, Velery Malev, was found dead a few days after the reported talk. Kuchma's aides say the tape is a fake. The recordings were apparently made by Kuchma's former bodyguard Mikola Melnichenko, who has since fled to the United States, a man who has also produced tapes of Kuchma allegedly ordering the assassination of opposition journalist Georgy Gongadze. Refusing to believe Kiev's official defense that the tapes are all doctored, Kuchma's opponents see a link -- and are enraged. "Kuchma has smeared the reputation of our whole people. He has disgraced us before the world," said Viktor Shyshkin, the country's former prosecutor general. "He made people abduct and kill Gongadze, and now he is involved in arms trafficking," the former prosecutor said. "Kuchma has chosen tyranny," added Sergei Golovaty, a former justice minister. And one of Kuchma's most vocal opponents Yulia Timoshenko, a former deputy prime minister now facing corruption charges that she calls a political vendetta from Kuchma, accused her former boss of "abandoning the highest principles of government." But despite the pressure, some think Kuchma will stick around in power for some years to come. Kuchma's second and last term runs out in 2004. But a deputy prime minister has recently argued that the constitution -- adopted in 1996 -- limiting a president's term should not count against Kuchma because he first won office before that law came into effect. Thus opponents fear that Kuchma may use loopholes to run again, and with the government's tight control of the media, win. The street demonstrations outside his office may act to discourage him, but the protests are getting little coverage in Ukranian -- or Russian -- media. The latest one held Saturday was banned by the Kiev police, but still gathered several thousand demonstrators chanting "Kuchma out." The largest demonstration -- the biggest in the republic's post-Soviet history according to the opposition count -- was on September 16 when more than 20,000 people took to the streets in Kiev and another 30,000 in other cities. Kuchma has flatly refused demands for his resignation, although one recent survey found that nearly three-quarters of all Ukrainians would like to see him step down. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.interfax.com/com?item=Ukr&pg=0&id=5599271&req= Interfax October 10, 2002 Ukrainian Defense Ministry denies delivery of radar from Belarus Kyiv. (Interfax-AVN) - The Ukrainian Defense Ministry refuted media reports quoting member of the Vekhovna Rada (parliament) Yuliya Tymoshenko as saying that a Kolchuga radar was delivered from Belarus to Ukraine for the demonstration to international experts instead of the one sold to Iraq illegally. "The information circulated on Friday by several media outlets about the delivery of the Kolchuga radar from Belarus to the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv does not correspond to reality," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry press service reported. "In fact, three Kolchuga radars have been mothballed at the A-2622 military unit under command of Major Georgy Bezkhmelnitsyn in Chernihiv since 1992," the press service said. In accordance with a plan of the equipment transition to winter operation, the servicing of the three radars is underway in the unit. Tymoshenko, a Ukrainian opposition leader and a parliament member, said that, according to her information, Ukraine has delivered a Kolchuga radar system from Belarus in order to show it to international experts. Tymoshenko said at a news conference in Kyiv on Friday that the corresponding information was made available from six various sources, including customs and a military unit, which received the system, on Thursday evening. According to earlier repots, U.S. and British experts are due to arrive in Ukraine on October 13 to investigate the accusations of.... ------------------------------------------------------- __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] 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 ==^================================================================
