-Caveat Lector-
From
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,2-524-210604,00.html
}}}>Begin
February 17, 2002
Revealed: Al-Qaeda�s arms dealer
A FORMER Soviet air force officer has been
Insight
named as the chief supplier of arms and equipment to Osama Bin
Laden�s network in Afghanistan. Victor Bout, a mysterious Russian
whose air freight firms are accused of flouting United Nations
sanctions across Africa and Asia, is alleged by intelligence sources
to have operated flights to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda until just days
before the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Last week an international arrest warrant was issued and will shortly
be circulated worldwide by Interpol.
Controlling one of the world�s largest fleets of former Soviet cargo planes, Bout
brought in arms and ammunition, as well as bulk supplies, and helped Al-Qaeda
militants to enter Afghanistan in breach of a UN arms embargo
.
The most damning evidence has been collected by Britain�s intelligence service, MI6,
which launched a campaign two years ago to monitor his activities. British
intelligence has been tracking Bout�s arms shipments and moni
toring his communications, as well as interfering with his attempts to buy weapons in
eastern Europe. The disruption included the seizure of a helicopter gunship.
A Whitehall official said: �The evidence assembled is persuasive. He has a
go-anywhere, supply-anything outfit that fuels war and terrorism.�
Britain�s action has followed a campaign by Peter Hain, the Foreign Office minister,
who accuses Bout of illicitly supplying guns bought in eastern Europe to rebel groups
in conflict zones, such as Angola and Sierra Leone
, in return for contraband diamonds. Last week Hain refused to discuss intelligence
matters but confirmed Bout�s connection to Bin Laden.
�Bout is a merchant of death. He supplies rebel and terrorist forces
with arms in return for diamonds,� Hain said. �He was also supplying
the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. He must be put out of business.�
Hain said the firms involved in supplying Bin Laden were based in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE). The gun-running continued even after
sanctions were imposed on Afghanistan in January 2001.
Belgian state prosecutors are leading attempts to bring Bout to
justice. The arrest warrant accuses him of involvement in the use of
counterfeit currency and follows the arrest of key associates. One
was found with a map detailing military facilities in Afghanistan.
End<{{{
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