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>From http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020221-14729320.htm
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The Washington Times
www.washtimes.com
Assault rifles for Annan guards investigated
Stewart Stogel
SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 2/21/2002
NEW YORK � The U.S. government is investigating whether the
United Nations illegally imported and issued paramilitary assault
rifles to Secretary-General Kofi Annan's security detail.
Sources in the U.N. Security and Safety Service say that the
members of Mr. Annan's personal protective detail have been using the
German-made MP5 submachine guns since 1998, despite an apparent
failure to obtain U.S. clearance for their use.
U.N. officials say that the use of the highly restricted firearm
has been cleared with U.S. authorities.
But Mike Campbell, a spokesman for the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms, confirmed in an interview that an inquiry into the U.N.
personnel's use of the weapon was initiated two weeks ago.
The dispute is made even more sensitive by the fact that Mr. Annan himself led a
U.N. effort last summer to stem the production and sale of small arms around the
world, an effort that drew criticism from U.S. gun-own
ership groups and from the Bush administration.
"There is no single tool of conflict so widespread, so easily available and so
difficult to restrict as small arms," Mr. Annan told a special meeting of the Security
Council in July.
The MP5, described by its German manufacturer Heckler and Koch GmbH as a
"paramilitary assault rifle" commonly used by police SWAT squads, is just one of
several varieties of assault weapons currently in the possessi
on of the United Nations, said one U.N. official who spoke on the condition of
anonymity.
America's use of the MP5 is normally limited to law-enforcement organizations,
Mr. Campbell said. Importation of the submachine gun is tightly controlled, he said.
The United States does not consider the U.N. security service a law-enforcement
organization and thus deems it ineligible to possess weapons such as the MP5,
according to a State Department official.
"If the United Nations had applied for permission to obtain these guns, most
likely it would have been rejected" again, said the official, who requested anonymity.
The State Department official said the United Nations first approached the U.S.
government for permission to purchase the MP5 in early 1998 and was refused. Just how
Mr. Annan's security detail obtained the weapons i
s the focus of the U.S. government probe.
Michael McCann, who has directed U.N. security operations since 1994, refused to
comment on the issue, but U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard denied any wrongdoing.
Mr. Eckhard said he had checked with the security service and was told that all
the necessary licenses for the weapons carried by U.N. personnel had been obtained.
"I flatly reject the notion any laws have been broken," he said.
An American citizen and a veteran of the New York Police Department, Mr. McCann
has been a frequent target of criticism by both U.N. diplomats and staff over security
at the New York site.
On September 11, it took hours to evacuate the U.N. headquarters after the plane
attacks on the World Trade Center; employees at the Twin Towers were evacuated in 45
minutes.
Several staffers described the evacuation process as "mass confusion."
Umberto Ravalico, Mr. McCann's predecessor, rejected the use of the MP5 guns.
U.N. sources said that Mr. Ravalico felt they were "too dangerous" for use within New
York City.
Although the United States cannot control the use of such weapons inside the U.N.
compound, U.S. laws do apply if the weapons are carried outside.
Documents obtained by The Washington Times indicate that U.N. submachine guns
frequently leave U.N. headquarters, accompanying Mr. Annan on trips around the New
York area and for use in target-practice sessions for U
.N. officers at a shooting range on Long Island.
A U.N. document on training standards for security officers appears to note the
sensitivity of taking the MP5 outside the U.N. headquarters building.
For the twice-yearly proficiency tests required for security officers, the
officers and the weapons are transported to the range in a vehicle provided by the
U.N. security service.
If officers travel to the range on their own, they cannot bring their firearm
with them.
"Under no circumstances should a United Nations weapon be transported in a
private vehicle," according to a U.N. instruction sheet titled "Qualification on the
Service MP5." The passage is highlighted in bold-face ty
pe.
Conventions on diplomatic immunity do not apply to weapons possession. A survey
of the United Nations' five permanent Security Council members � the United States,
Britain, France, China and Russia � found that only
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte was assigned an armed protective detail.
He has only a small security detachment with standard sidearms, according to a
State Department spokesman.
There has never been an assault on a U.N. secretary-general in the United States.
While in the United States, Mr. Annan is protected by U.N. security, the New York
police force and by the State Department's Diplomati
c Security Service, depending on the circumstances.
An official at the Diplomatic Security Service said the U.S. government has no
way to track the movement of U.N.-issued weapons.
"It is a matter between the U.N. and local jurisdictions," he said.
The official also acknowledged there was no way the Diplomatic Security Service
could independently verify that the United Nations was in compliance with local laws
whenever the weapons left the compound. That is in
marked contrast to the rules governing foreign embassies, which are under tight
restrictions on the ownership and transportation of any firearms.
Currently, the United Nations has more than 20 officers in the MP5 qualification
program. The majority of participants are foreign nationals, which has raised
additional concerns at the State Department and ATF.
Copyright � 2001 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
Return to the article
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