Стаття в New York Times про
11/07/2002 | Боб
продаж Україною зброї Іраку.
Опублікована в номері за 07.11.02 (розділ International)
Англомовний текст без змін нижче.
Report of Arms Sale to Iraq Roils Ukraine Politics
By MICHAEL WINES
MOSCOW, Nov. 6 — Some Ukrainian legislators expressed consternation today and President Leonid D. Kuchma called for a United Nations inquiry after a new report reinforced suspicions that Ukraine secretly sold advanced air-defense equipment to Iraq more than two years ago.
The still unreleased report, by American and British investigators who visited Ukraine last month, concludes that the government there offered only mixed cooperation with the inquiry, the State Department said today.
The department's spokesman, Richard A. Boucher, said Ukraine had "failed to provide the team with satisfactory evidence" that the air-defense system, known as Kolchuga, had not been smuggled to Iraq. "As a result, the question of whether Ukraine transferred or is transferring Kolchugas to Iraq must remain open," he added.
At a news conference today in Kiev on unrelated issues, Mr. Kuchma called for a special commission of the Security Council to undertake its own inquiry into the allegations.
"This is the first instance in which a country itself turns to the highest body of the U.N. to deal with such problematic issues," he said. "We have never supplied Iraq with any arms or any weapons at all."
The smuggling charge has cast a deep shadow over Ukraine's relations with the West, which had already been strained as Mr. Kuchma's government tried unsuccessfully to cope with charges of political corruption and civil-liberties violations.
The United States said last month that it believed Mr. Kuchma personally approved a plan in July 2000 to sell Iraq an advanced Kolchuga radar system, which can pinpoint attacking aircraft without the pilots' knowledge.
Last month, the State Department said it would suspend a $55-million-a-year part of its foreign aid to Ukraine until the controversy surrounding the radar system was resolved.
The charge is rooted in recordings of Mr. Kuchma's private conversations, secretly taped and smuggled to the United States more than a year ago by a presidential security guard. In one conversation, made public last spring, Mr. Kuchma is heard to approve a proposal by the director of Ukraine's weapons exports to sell four Kolchuga systems to Iraq through a Jordanian contact. "Just watch that the Jordanian keeps his mouth shut," Mr. Kuchma is quoted as saying.
The Kolchuga system is a complex of four receivers that is billed as capable of detecting aircraft as far away as 500 miles and ground targets up to 370 miles away. Because it sends out no signals on its own, it cannot be detected by outsiders.
Mr. Kuchma has denied authorizing the sale of the devices. But the United States raised the charge publicly last month after its experts examined the original recording of the conversation and concluded that he had indeed approved the sale.
An American official said then that the United States also had "some indications," that the radar system were now in Iraq. If it is, that could trigger more severe punishment under both American law and the international arms embargo imposed on Iraq by the United Nations.
In Washington, the State Department said Ukraine had been open in giving investigators data on some items relating to production of the system, but had not cooperated with questions about Mr. Kuchma's authorization of its sale to Iraq.
Опублікована в номері за 07.11.02 (розділ International)
Англомовний текст без змін нижче.
Report of Arms Sale to Iraq Roils Ukraine Politics
By MICHAEL WINES
MOSCOW, Nov. 6 — Some Ukrainian legislators expressed consternation today and President Leonid D. Kuchma called for a United Nations inquiry after a new report reinforced suspicions that Ukraine secretly sold advanced air-defense equipment to Iraq more than two years ago.
The still unreleased report, by American and British investigators who visited Ukraine last month, concludes that the government there offered only mixed cooperation with the inquiry, the State Department said today.
The department's spokesman, Richard A. Boucher, said Ukraine had "failed to provide the team with satisfactory evidence" that the air-defense system, known as Kolchuga, had not been smuggled to Iraq. "As a result, the question of whether Ukraine transferred or is transferring Kolchugas to Iraq must remain open," he added.
At a news conference today in Kiev on unrelated issues, Mr. Kuchma called for a special commission of the Security Council to undertake its own inquiry into the allegations.
"This is the first instance in which a country itself turns to the highest body of the U.N. to deal with such problematic issues," he said. "We have never supplied Iraq with any arms or any weapons at all."
The smuggling charge has cast a deep shadow over Ukraine's relations with the West, which had already been strained as Mr. Kuchma's government tried unsuccessfully to cope with charges of political corruption and civil-liberties violations.
The United States said last month that it believed Mr. Kuchma personally approved a plan in July 2000 to sell Iraq an advanced Kolchuga radar system, which can pinpoint attacking aircraft without the pilots' knowledge.
Last month, the State Department said it would suspend a $55-million-a-year part of its foreign aid to Ukraine until the controversy surrounding the radar system was resolved.
The charge is rooted in recordings of Mr. Kuchma's private conversations, secretly taped and smuggled to the United States more than a year ago by a presidential security guard. In one conversation, made public last spring, Mr. Kuchma is heard to approve a proposal by the director of Ukraine's weapons exports to sell four Kolchuga systems to Iraq through a Jordanian contact. "Just watch that the Jordanian keeps his mouth shut," Mr. Kuchma is quoted as saying.
The Kolchuga system is a complex of four receivers that is billed as capable of detecting aircraft as far away as 500 miles and ground targets up to 370 miles away. Because it sends out no signals on its own, it cannot be detected by outsiders.
Mr. Kuchma has denied authorizing the sale of the devices. But the United States raised the charge publicly last month after its experts examined the original recording of the conversation and concluded that he had indeed approved the sale.
An American official said then that the United States also had "some indications," that the radar system were now in Iraq. If it is, that could trigger more severe punishment under both American law and the international arms embargo imposed on Iraq by the United Nations.
In Washington, the State Department said Ukraine had been open in giving investigators data on some items relating to production of the system, but had not cooperated with questions about Mr. Kuchma's authorization of its sale to Iraq.