Ukraine: arms for Iraq?
09/25/2002 | Augusto
Intelligence Didgest
http://www.janes.com/regional_news/europe/news/jid/jid020502_1_n.shtml
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma is being accused of playing a key role in the latest scandal to hit his country. Since the so-called 'Kuchmagate' affair broke in the winter of 2000, the president has been largely shunned by the West. His last official visit to western Europe was to Germany in January 2001: an excursion planned long before he became embroiled in the alleged murder of an opposition journalist, Georgii Gongadze.
However, this time the issue is far more serious: allegations of weapons sales to Iraq. If the charges are proved, Kuchma is unlikely to be welcome in the West for the remainder of his second term in office, which lasts until October 2004.
The source of the latest allegations is the same as sparked the initial scandal: 300 hours of tapes recorded illicitly in Kuchma's office by former presidential security guard Mykola Melnychenko. Melnychenko fled Ukraine in November 2000 and sought asylum in the USA in April the following year.
The Melnychenko tapes purport to reveal a conversation on 10 July 2000 between Kuchma and Valeri Malev, head of the military export agency UkrSpetsExport. This allegedly took place four months prior to the revelation in the Ukrainian parliament of the existence of the tapes. The recordings appear to reveal a scheme to sell sophisticated weaponry to Iraq.
Kuchma's meeting with Malev followed Ukraine's participation in the SOFEX-2000 arms exhibition held in Amman, Jordan on 17-19 April 2000. Malev headed the Ukrainian delegation which exhibited the T-80UD tank; an upgraded T-72 tank; a BTR-94 APC; an 1L220-V fire-control radar (Zoopark) and - most importantly - the Kolchuga radar system.
After the great interest shown in the Kolchuga system by Middle Eastern clients it was upgraded. It now has the capability to evaluate land and air targets at 600-800km. What concerns the US and its allies - and the reason why Saddam Hussein was so keen to obtain it - is Kolchuga's ability to detect US Stealth aircraft.
Melnychenko testified before a Federal Grand jury in San Francisco in mid-April that the material on the tapes is genuine. FBI experts have also confirmed the authenticity of this portion of the Melnychenko tapes. Although the US investigations continue, a US Defense Intelligence Agency spokesman told the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity that "Iraq has them" (i.e. the Kolchuga system). Two months after the radar was allegedly delivered, a USAF plane was downed over Iraq.
The accusation that Ukraine illegally exported sophisticated weapon systems to Iraq in breach of a UN embargo is being taken far more seriously by the US administration than the allegations concerning the murder of Gongadze. If the case is proved, Ukraine would itself become a pariah state, which in turn, would lead to international pressure for Kuchma to step down well before his presidential term ends in 2004.
466 of 915 words
[End of non-subscriber extract.]
http://www.janes.com/regional_news/europe/news/jid/jid020502_1_n.shtml
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma is being accused of playing a key role in the latest scandal to hit his country. Since the so-called 'Kuchmagate' affair broke in the winter of 2000, the president has been largely shunned by the West. His last official visit to western Europe was to Germany in January 2001: an excursion planned long before he became embroiled in the alleged murder of an opposition journalist, Georgii Gongadze.
However, this time the issue is far more serious: allegations of weapons sales to Iraq. If the charges are proved, Kuchma is unlikely to be welcome in the West for the remainder of his second term in office, which lasts until October 2004.
The source of the latest allegations is the same as sparked the initial scandal: 300 hours of tapes recorded illicitly in Kuchma's office by former presidential security guard Mykola Melnychenko. Melnychenko fled Ukraine in November 2000 and sought asylum in the USA in April the following year.
The Melnychenko tapes purport to reveal a conversation on 10 July 2000 between Kuchma and Valeri Malev, head of the military export agency UkrSpetsExport. This allegedly took place four months prior to the revelation in the Ukrainian parliament of the existence of the tapes. The recordings appear to reveal a scheme to sell sophisticated weaponry to Iraq.
Kuchma's meeting with Malev followed Ukraine's participation in the SOFEX-2000 arms exhibition held in Amman, Jordan on 17-19 April 2000. Malev headed the Ukrainian delegation which exhibited the T-80UD tank; an upgraded T-72 tank; a BTR-94 APC; an 1L220-V fire-control radar (Zoopark) and - most importantly - the Kolchuga radar system.
After the great interest shown in the Kolchuga system by Middle Eastern clients it was upgraded. It now has the capability to evaluate land and air targets at 600-800km. What concerns the US and its allies - and the reason why Saddam Hussein was so keen to obtain it - is Kolchuga's ability to detect US Stealth aircraft.
Melnychenko testified before a Federal Grand jury in San Francisco in mid-April that the material on the tapes is genuine. FBI experts have also confirmed the authenticity of this portion of the Melnychenko tapes. Although the US investigations continue, a US Defense Intelligence Agency spokesman told the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity that "Iraq has them" (i.e. the Kolchuga system). Two months after the radar was allegedly delivered, a USAF plane was downed over Iraq.
The accusation that Ukraine illegally exported sophisticated weapon systems to Iraq in breach of a UN embargo is being taken far more seriously by the US administration than the allegations concerning the murder of Gongadze. If the case is proved, Ukraine would itself become a pariah state, which in turn, would lead to international pressure for Kuchma to step down well before his presidential term ends in 2004.
466 of 915 words
[End of non-subscriber extract.]
Відповіді
2002.09.25 | FiFi
Re: Ukraine: arms for Iraq?
>Although the US investigations continue, a US Defense Intelligence Agency spokesman told the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity that "Iraq has them" (i.e. the Kolchuga system). Two months after the radar was allegedly delivered, a USAF plane was downed over Iraq.This suggests much more evidence than simply the Melnychenko recordings. The US State Department language, I would suggest, is being deliberately softened in order to give the Kuchma administration some wiggle room. Right now, Washington is not looking for new enemies.
2002.09.25 | FiFi
Pytannia do AST
Why are you so certain that Kuchma was NOT involved in illegal arms sales to Iraq? An honest question.
2002.09.25 | AST
Re: Pytannia do AST
FiFi пише:>
> Why are you so certain that Kuchma was NOT involved in illegal arms sales to Iraq? An honest question.
I am certain that Kolchuga was NOT delivered to Iraq. An honest answer.
Note: CIA official visited Kiev to meet Derkach that summer. The topic was Iraq, Iran.
read:
http://www.cripo.com.ua/?sect_id=8&aid=170
Also I am certain that any digital recordings can be easily doctored. For sure.
2002.09.25 | юрко
Re:тут ось інформація:
The Pentagon has said the Predator was the first U.S. aircraft lost in Iraq in the 10 years since U.S. and British planes began patrolling "no-fly" zonesПентагон повідомив, що Predator був першим американським літаком, що його втратили в Іраку протягом останніх 10 років з часу американські та британські літаки почали патролювати зону, заборонену для польотів
і тут
US Defense Intelligence Agency spokesman told the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity that "Iraq has them" (i.e. the Kolchuga system). Two months after the radar was allegedly delivered, a USAF plane was downed over Iraq.
Речник агенції військової розвідки повідомив Center for Public Integrity у Вашінгтоні, що "Ірак їх має" (тобто, систему Кольчуга). Після двох місяців з часу можливої доставки радара, літак було збито над Іраком.
І це сталося, АСТ, незважаючи на вашу переконаність у брехливості записів і невірі в продажу Кольчуги.
2002.09.26 | line305b
Точно определить нельзя...
Насколько я знаю, Предатор - не очень хай-теч в плане невидимости - медленно-летящая цель, скорость что-то ок. 100 км в час - можно визуально увидеть и поймать обычным радаром, а значит и сбить. Кроме того, мог и сам по себе свалиться... Т.е. если единственное доказательство присутствия "кольчуг", это пропавший Предатор, то наверное Кучма легко отмажется. Вообще-то, как доказывать присутствие Кольчуг непонятно - ведь это система пассивного слежения - ничего не излучает, ничего не посылает. Только если фотографию представить или захватить копию... а так как докажешь?2002.09.26 | AST
Фігня
юрко пише:> The Pentagon has said the Predator was the first U.S. aircraft lost in Iraq in the 10 years since U.S. and British planes began patrolling "no-fly" zones
>
> Пентагон повідомив, що Predator був першим американським літаком, що його втратили в Іраку протягом останніх 10 років з часу американські та британські літаки почали патролювати зону, заборонену для польотів
>
> і тут
> US Defense Intelligence Agency spokesman told the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity that "Iraq has them" (i.e. the Kolchuga system). Two months after the radar was allegedly delivered, a USAF plane was downed over Iraq.
>
> Речник агенції військової розвідки повідомив Center for Public Integrity у Вашінгтоні, що "Ірак їх має" (тобто, систему Кольчуга). Після двох місяців з часу можливої доставки радара, літак було збито над Іраком.
>
> І це сталося, АСТ, незважаючи на вашу переконаність у брехливості записів і невірі в продажу Кольчуги.
Фігню цей центр пише. Всі літаки збивали влітку та восени 2001-го. Я писав про це. Соррі фо рашн:
К счастью для Пентагона, до сих пор ни одного Stealth иракцы не сбили. В действительности американцы пока потеряли при налетах на Ирак лишь три самолета-шпиона типа Predator (это произошло 27 августа, 11 сентября и 10 октября 2001 года). Хотя Predator довольно свежая разработка, в отличие от Stealth никто не декларирует его невидимость. Этот беспилотный самолет, как подчеркивают американцы, был создан специально для использования в местах, где ПВО противника представляет существенную угрозу для жизни летчиков или вероятно применение химического и бактериологического оружия. Predator напичкан телеаппаратурой, которую обслуживает на земле бригада из 55 человек. Помимо этой аппаратуры он еще способен нести два управляемых реактивных снаряда.
Стоит Predator в тысячу раз дешевле Stealth - 3,2 миллиона долларов. И поражение Predator вовсе не свидетельствует о сокрушительном военно-техническом фиаско США. Так, ещё в ходе балканской кампании югославские ПВО уничтожили четыре самолета этого типа.
2002.09.26 | SpokusXalepniy
Re: Фігня
AST пише:> К счастью для Пентагона, до сих пор ни одного Stealth иракцы не сбили. В действительности американцы пока потеряли при налетах на Ирак лишь три самолета-шпиона типа Predator
Stealth это не конкретный тип самолета, а общая характеристика его низкой отражательной способности, т.е. такой характеристики, как быть малозаметным для радаров.
Под Stealth часто понимают B-2. Это такие "зигзуго-подобные" аппараты по ширине (в размахе крыльев) в два раза превышающие длину самолета.
B-2 это бомбардировщик способный нести и наводить очень тяжелые бомбы - самые тяжелые, которые есть на вооружении.
Мне очень сомнительно, что над Ираком, для проверки и контроля, летают эти самолеты. Они не предназначены для этих целей - быстрое обнаружение объекта и его поражение.
Кроме того, они не базируются на зарубежных базах США. Их дислокация - внутри страны (кажется, в штате Мисисипи). Это сделано для тог, чтобы до них трудно было долететь какой-нибудь ракете или самолету.
Так как
> Стоит Predator в тысячу раз дешевле Stealth - 3,2 миллиона долларов.
Ну, не в тысячу раз, а всего лишь в 500. :)
B-2 стоит около 1.2 миллиарда долларов (:если брать базовый комплект - кресла пилотов без подлокотников:).
В этом смысле обеспокоенность США понятна. Испытывать B-2 на улавливаемость "кольчугами" занятие не из дешевых. За эти деньги легче перекупить президента какой-нибудь страны вместе с кальчугой и шлемом.
В общем, Иракцы ещё не сбили Stealth, возможно потому, что он там ещё не летал.
2002.09.26 | AST
Re: Фігня
SpokusXalepniy пише:> В общем, Иракцы ещё не сбили Stealth, возможно потому, что он там ещё не летал.
Stealth літав над Іраком. F-117 активно використовувався під час "війни в затоці" в 91-р.
Але ясно, що це було до "Кольчуги".
2002.09.25 | FiFi
Re: Pytannia do AST
AST пише:> I am certain that Kolchuga was NOT delivered to Iraq.
I too am certain there was no DIRECT delivery.
> Also I am certain that any digital recordings can be easily doctored. For sure.
Problem now for Kuchma is to prove which parts may have been doctored, otherwise everything is assumed to be authentic. That's the price you pay when you have a history of telling lies.
2002.09.26 | AST
Re: Pytannia do AST
FiFi пише:> AST пише:
> > I am certain that Kolchuga was NOT delivered to Iraq.
>
> I too am certain there was no DIRECT delivery.
Через ізраїльського посередника - LR Avionics Technologies Ltd? Та побійтесь Бога. Може ви, американці дійсно лохи, але в "Моссаді" за такі речі, як продаж зброї ворогам єврейського народу, просто вбивають. Консультувався.
> > Also I am certain that any digital recordings can be easily doctored. For sure.
>
>
> Problem now for Kuchma is to prove which parts may have been doctored, otherwise everything is assumed to be authentic. That's the price you pay when you have a history of telling lies.
Мені не шкода Кучми і не турбують його проблеми. Але, по-перше, є конкретна справа Гонгадзе. А там з записами дуже великі проблеми.
По друге, політичні спекуляції записами Мельниченка давно шкодять не лише Кучмі, але і всій Україні, як державі. Он, в США проблеми з особою Лукашенко їснують з 96-го року. Чи пішло це на користь білорусам? Питання риторічне. Якщо Кучму будуть "пресувати" з такою ж самою ефективністю (а все до того йде), то краще цього не робити взагалі.
Прогноз: американці, світова преса і наша опозиція тиждень-два порепетують, потім почнеться війна з Іраком, Кучма тим часом зустрінеться з Путіним і вирішить всі свої проблеми.
2002.09.26 | Augusto
Секретне повідомлення для агента Washout a.k.a AST
Дитино Божа, ти ще нічого не добрав? Справа в тому, що всі давно і остаточно впевнені в автентичності записів, просто це нікого не турбує: ну кому яка справа до проблем дикунів на переферії зору? Ще в 1993 році чорним на білом було написано, що Україна НЕ входить ні в чиї інтереси (воно звичайно було написано інакше: було перераховано хто входить, на манір - серед присутніх залишаються жити Спокус, Шутер, Свистович, Аугусто, перераховуються всі наявні, лише двоє випущені - спєцаГенти Washout а.к.а АSТ а.к.а А.К.А та Roadkill, а.к.а Смуч а.к.а Wannabe а.к.а А.К.А-2, це був лише приклад, нічого персонального), а зараз коли Гамерика починає жити за принципом Пара Бєлум, згадай, чудо, яка тактика зараз в Гамериканців? Як колись королівська Британія воювала потужним флотом далеко від власних берегів, так зараз Гамерика воює повітряним флотом і наявність розмови (плюс, чудо, я ж тебе тикав носом в повідомлення про перебіжчиков від Великого Лідера? як вони співають, а їх купкою складають і НЕ п*здять чоботом по печінці з вигуками "Ото тобі, падло, за гази в Курдістані!"), нікому не цікаво ризикнути щонайменше обісраним комбінезоном пілота, я вже не кажу про вбитих, за насолоду вождя Ку бухати Балантайн. Ви, друзі, зараз в глибокому борщi (in the deep borshch), такі заяви вже не відкликаються.2002.09.26 | FiFi
Re: Pytannia do AST
AST пише:> FiFi пише:
> > AST пише:
> >
> > I too am certain there was no DIRECT delivery.
>
> Через ізраїльського посередника - LR Avionics Technologies Ltd? Та побійтесь Бога. Може ви, американці дійсно лохи, але в "Моссаді" за такі речі, як продаж зброї ворогам єврейського народу, просто вбивають. Консультувався.
Nice rhetorical sleight of hand, that. I continue to be amazed by your hubris.
> > > Also I am certain that any digital recordings can be easily doctored. For sure.
> >
> >
> > Problem now for Kuchma is to prove which parts may have been doctored, otherwise everything is assumed to be authentic. That's the price you pay when you have a history of telling lies.
>
> Мені не шкода Кучми і не турбують його проблеми. Але, по-перше, є конкретна справа Гонгадзе. А там з записами дуже великі проблеми.
If so, then the people around Kuchma are absolute idiots for not pursuing a credible investigation right from the start. But you, of course, know the answer--there is too much there other than Gongadze that is authentic....
> По друге, політичні спекуляції записами Мельниченка давно шкодять не лише Кучмі, але і всій Україні, як державі. Он, в США проблеми з особою Лукашенко їснують з 96-го року. Чи пішло це на користь білорусам? Питання риторічне. Якщо Кучму будуть "пресувати" з такою ж самою ефективністю (а все до того йде), то краще цього не робити взагалі.
Odd, you say you don't care about Kuchma and yet you defend him at every turn. Kuchma is not Lukashenko and Ukraine is not Belarus. Kuchma could only dream about the kind of popular support Lukashenko enjoys. Regimes fall because no one comes out to defend them.
> Прогноз: американці, світова преса і наша опозиція тиждень-два порепетують, потім почнеться війна з Іраком, Кучма тим часом зустрінеться з Путіним і вирішить всі свої проблеми.
My prognosis: there will be no war with Iraq and even Putin will quietly abandon the international embarrassment that is Kuchma.
Really, your hopelessness and fatalism with regard to politics--a slave mentality--are draining. What I don't understand is the relentless energy with which you keep trying to persuade everyone that resistance is futile. That has been the subtext of your postings for two years. Responsible journalism, hmmmmmm
2002.09.25 | Йванко
Associated Press
Ukraine Chief Meets With Opposition
By Marina Sysoyeva
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, September 25, 2002; 7:12 AM
KIEV, Ukraine –– Trying to defuse an escalating political standoff, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma held talks Wednesday with opposition lawmakers who had occupied part of his offices but brushed off their demands he step down or call new elections.
In the talks, Kuchma agreed to a parliamentary investigation into reports of illegal military sales to Iraq, opposition leaders said. The U.S. State Department on Tuesday accused the Ukrainian leader of personally approving the sale of a military radar system to Baghdad in violation of U.N. sanctions.
Fifty opposition lawmakers have been holed up in the presidential office building since Tuesday, after an anti-Kuchma demonstration by more than 5,000 people. The legislators announced a hunger strike and said they would stay in the building until Kuchma acceded to their demand for talks.
In their discussions Wednesday morning, the opposition leaders gave Kuchma until Sunday to respond to their demands that he step down or call early elections, but he immediately rejected them, said Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz, who took part in the talks.
"He (Kuchma) said: 'I know what is written there, this is an ultimatum, but I am the president, elected by a majority of the nation," said Moroz. He said police inside the administration building had mistreated lawmakers, shoving them with automatic rifles.
About 300 protesters stood outside the presidential building on Wednesday, chanting "Away with Kuchma!"
The chief prosecutor's office opened a criminal case into the lawmakers for "illegal seizure of parts of the presidential building," the agency's press service said. If convicted, the lawmakers could face up to three years in prison if parliament agrees to strip them of immunity from prosecution.
The opposition is stepping up pressure on Kuchma, who has been in power since 1994. Opponents say he was complicit in the killing two years ago of Heorhiy Gongadze, a crusading investigative journalist – a charge the president denies. They also hold Kuchma responsible for the nation's pervasive crony capitalism, endemic graft and alleged electoral fraud.
At the same time, Washington is increasing pressure over the issue of weapons sales to Iraq.
The speaker of Parliament, Volodymyr Lytvyn, a Kuchma ally, proposed Wednesday that a special commission of lawmakers, security and Foreign Ministry officials investigate reports the president approved illegal sales to Iraq. The government has in the past denied making any sales.
The State Department said Tuesday it had definitive evidence of Kuchma's approving the sale of a radar system that can detect approaching aircraft without tipping off their pilots.
U.S. investigators determined that a tape made secretly by one of Kuchma's bodyguards in July 2000, documenting a conversation in which Kuchma approved the sale, was genuine, State Department spokeswoman Lynn Cassel said.
"We view the recordings' authentication with the utmost concern since it implicates President Kuchma in seeking to transfer a sophisticated detection system to Iraq in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions," Cassel said.
Moroz, of the Ukrainian opposition, said Wednesday that a parliamentary investigatory commission had found indications of possible illegal arms deals several years ago. The commission was later disbanded.
"We ... concluded that there were many violations. In fact, it was not arms sales, but arms theft, because state accounts did not receive anything," Moroz told The Associated Press.
The opposition coalition represents a broad array of leftists, nationalists and apolitical citizens fed up with years of corruption and economic struggle.
A wave of anti-Kuchma street protests that began in November 2000 with the discovery of a headless body believed to be Gongadze's fizzled after several months, largely because Ukraine's most popular politician, then-Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko, failed to throw his weight behind the demonstrations.
This time, he has joined opposition actions but also made clear that he favors political negotiations over street protests as an engine of change.
2002.09.25 | Mykyta
Re: Teper ot vse sprobuyut' spyhnuty na Malyeva
Z UP:В ?нтерв'ю FinancialTimes кер?вник служби безпеки Укра?ни Володимир
Радченко п?дтвердив, що ч?льн? укра?нськ?
урядовц? справд? хот?ли продати радари ?раков?,
але пан Радченко наполяга?, що так? плани були
скасован?.
Часопис веде дал? так: "Як каже пан Радченко,
колишн?й кер?вник укра?нсько? установи з питань
експорту озбро?нь Валер?й Мал?в виступав на
п?дтримку таких план?в ще за тиждень до того,
як загинув в автомоб?льн?й катастроф? в березн?
цього року. Саме в?н, як св?дчать ауд?озаписи,
пропонував президентов? Кучм? продати ?раков?
чотири радарн? установки "Кольчуга". Пан
Радченко каже, що СБУ не вдавалось до спроб
перев?рки автентичност? запис?в, вт?м, ?нш?
джерела, за його словами, п?дтверджують, що ус?
радари Кольчуга, виготовлен? в?д 1991 року,
перебувають на обл?ку, ? жодна з них не
потрапила до ?раку."
2002.09.25 | vj
Reuters..
04:41 24Sep2002 UPDATE 2-U.S. halts some Ukraine aid over Iraq suspicions
(Adds programs hit, details, background)
By Elaine Monaghan
WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - The United States has stopped tens of millions of dollars in aid to ally Ukraine, suspicious the former Soviet republic may have sold a military system to Iraq that could help bring down U.S. planes, a senior U.S. official said Monday.
President Leonid Kuchma, who has faced charges of sleaze and involvement in the death of a reporter whose headless corpse was found near Kiev in 2000, denies the allegations which have sparked Ukraine's biggest crisis since independence in 1991.
Talk has swirled for months about the alleged transfer to Iraq of the Ukraine-made "Kolchuga" system, but this was the first U.S. government acknowledgement that it might have happened -- which would have implications for U.S. and British pilots patrolling no-fly zones there.
The official drew no direct link with any U.S. war plans for Iraq. But the reported transfer coincides with efforts by President George W. Bush to build a consensus for an attack against President Saddam Hussein, accused by the United States of having or trying to get biological, chemical and nuclear arms.
"We have informed the Ukrainian government and NATO allies that we have reached this assessment, that there has been a pause in certain types of assistance and that a policy review is under way," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The official said the Department of Justice had authenticated part of a recording made by Mykola Melnychenko, a former bodygyard to Kuchma, in which an aide who has since been killed in a car crash tells Kuchma Iraq wants to buy four "Kolchuga" systems.
HIDDEN RECORDER
Melnychenko says he recorded about 1,000 hours of conversations by hiding a device in the president's office. He has since won asylum in the United States.
Any transfer of the system, which tracks moving objects on the ground or in the air when they emit radar signals, would violate U.N. sanctions and U.S. law, the official said.
"We have not physically observed the Kolchuga in Iraq, although we have some information which I cannot get into that suggests it may be there," the official said.
The official said $55 million that had been set aside for the central government in fiscal year 2002, which ends this month, had been put on hold -- including cash for economic reform and nuclear safety programs -- and further steps were being considered in a review that would last a week or two.
The money makes up about a third of the cash set aside each year to promote Ukraine's development.
Asked what Kuchma could do to redeem himself, the official replied: "At this point transparency on what Ukraine has done with Iraq certainly would not hurt."
The United States has poured billions of dollars into Ukraine, a country of 50 million people, partly because it wants an independent counterbalance to Russia in the region.
The official said the Ukrainian government had ample chance to explain Melnychenko's recording of the Iraq conversation -- which took place about five weeks after a visit by former President Bill Clinton -- but it had simply denied the claim.
He said the United States had not authenticated a section of the recordings in which a voice like Kuchma's tells aides to "deal with" reporter Georgiy Gongadze. He added: "Certainly our assessment that this Kolchuga recording is authentic colors the way that we look at the other recordings."
2002.09.26 | AST
Ще не вмерла Україна
http://www.defence-ua.com/rus/news/?id=5179
25.09.2002 18:58
"УКРСПЕЦЭКСПОРТ" СОБИРАЕТСЯ ПРЕДСТАВИТЬ КОМПЛЕКС "КОЛЬЧУГА" НА МАЛАЙЗИЙСКОМ ТЕНДЕРЕ
2002.09.26 | vj
ГЛАВА МИД УКРАИНЫ СРОЧНО ОТПРАВИЛСЯ В НЬЮ-ЙОРК
ГЛАВА МИД УКРАИНЫ СРОЧНО ОТПРАВИЛСЯ В НЬЮ-ЙОРК НА ВСТРЕЧУ С ГЕНСЕКОМ ООН.Интерфакс Оперативные сообщения
Russian
(c) 2002 by Interfax International, Ltd
Киев. 25 сентября. ИНТЕРФАКС-УКРАИНА - В связи с обвинениями в адрес Украины в нарушениях санкций против Ирака министр иностранных дел Украины Анатолий Зленко прервал свой визит в Доминиканскую Республику и срочно отправился в Нью-Йорк.
Сложившуюся ситуацию он планирует обсудить с генеральным секретарем ООН Кофи Аннаном, сообщает в среду пресс-служба МИД.
Запланированы также его встречи с главой комитета ООН по санкциям против Ирака и представителями при ООН стран-членов Совета Безопасности. Мф+.
2002.09.26 | Augusto
Ай-яй-яй-яй-яй! Що робиться!
А Кава Онан чим допоможе?2002.09.26 | vj
У Зленка величезний досвід багатовекторного замилювання очей(-)
2002.09.26 | Augusto
Це досвід Невловимого Джо в нього.
Коли ти нікому непотрібний, ніхто взагалі не звертає уваги, що ти там варнякаєш, аби не дуже від протокола відхилялося, а тут...2002.09.26 | vj
Financial Times
THE AMERICAS - US mistrust of Ukraine-Iraq link grows UN EMBARGO ON ARMS SUPPLY.
By TOM WARNER.
26 September 2002
Financial Times
The rift between the US and Ukraine over Ukraine's relationship with Iraq deepened yesterday as Washington inched closer to accusing Kiev of breaking the United Nations embargo on supplying arms to Iraq. The Ukrainian government denounced the "outright falsity" of the accusations.
Richard Boucher, a US State Department spokesman, told a news briefing yesterday that "there are some indications that suggest (the Kolchuga) may be (in Iraq)" but "we are not certain".
But Reuters quoted a US official saying Washington believed Iraq had obtained and was using Ukrainian-made "Kolchuga" radars, improving Iraq's chances of targeting the US and British aircraft that patrol Iraqi air space. "We believe (the Kolchuga) was transferred," Reuters quoted the official as saying.
Mr Boucher said the US had authenticated a recording received from one of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma's former guards in which Mr Kuchma okays a plan to sell four Kolchugas to Iraq for $100m.
In Kiev foreign journalists were invited to a briefing in which Mr Boucher was personally attacked for "juggling the facts" and making "indiscriminate accusations". Yuri Sergeyev, a deputy foreign minister, said it was "impossible" that Iraq could have obtained the Kolchuga because only a handful had been produced and all were in either Ukraine or Ethiopia.
Mr Sergeyev said Mr Kuchma "could not" approve a plan to sell radars to Iraq because that would break Ukrainian laws. However, he said it was possible that Mr Kuchma was recorded discussing a plan to sell radars to Iraq because Ukrainian officials who receive offers to make illegal arms deals are obliged to report them.
Mr Sergeyev added that Kiev had asked Iraq to revoke the status of honorary consul from Ukrainian businessman Yuri Orshansky. The foreign ministry accredited Mr Orshansky in 2000.
2002.09.26 | FiFi
Re: Financial Times
thank you, Mr. Sergeyev, for providing me with a good laugh> 26 September 2002
> Financial Times
> Mr Sergeyev said Mr Kuchma "could not" approve a plan to sell radars to Iraq because that would break Ukrainian laws.
Ha-ha-ha-ha
>However, he said it was possible that Mr Kuchma was recorded discussing a plan to sell radars to Iraq because Ukrainian officials who receive offers to make illegal arms deals are obliged to report them.
So even Mr. Sergeyev tacitly admits the authenticity of the recording. With defenders like this, Kuchma is in deep trouble.