Crash plane ‘carried Israeli arms to Iran’

Press, 27 July 1981, Page 9

Crash plane ‘carried Israeli arms to Iran’

NZPA London An Argentine plane which crashed in the Soviet Union If) days ago had just delivered Israeli arms to Teheran for the Iranian regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeiny, the "Sunday Times” reported yesterday.

It was the third of a dozen such flights contracted between Israeli and Iranian intermediaries in London for 532 million worth of tank parts and United Statesmade ammunition, the newspaper said. A 38-year-old Scot, Stuart Allan McCafferty, was in charge of getting the arms from Tel Aviv to Teheran. He was killed when Soviet

planes intercepted his aircraft which then crashed near the Turkish-Soviet border.

The “Sunday Times” quoted Mr McCafferty’s alleged Swiss connection, Andreas Jenni, as rejecting an Israeli denial of the earlier trips and saying they were made on July 12, 14, and 17. Mr McCafferty's plane flew into Soviet air space because the Soviets had positioned false ground beacons near the Turkish and Iranian borders, according to the newspaper. Mr Jenni told the “Sunday Times” that the Israelis wanted the arms to leave Tel Aviv with all papers in order

except for listing a false destination. The Iranians insisted on a stopover at Larnaca, Cyprus. He was paid §709,920 in advance and arrangements were made for Mr McCafferty to pilot the plane, he added.

The Scot, after having worked for six years with various airlines in Amsterdam, set up shop in Miami, Florida, two years ago, the newspaper said. When he stopped at Amsterdam on his way to Tel Aviv, the police checked the plane after being informed that it was carrying arms. On July 10 the aircraft was allowed to leave Am-

sterdam for Tel Aviv where it picked up parts for tanks. Stopping over in Larnaca, Mr McCafferty signed documents saying his plane was empty. But Turkish, Cypriot, and Soviet authorities all knew this was untrue, Mr Jenni told the “Sunday Times.”

On Saturday Argentine diplomatic sources said the Soviet Union so far had neither confirmed nor denied that the plane that crashed was Argentinian.

The Russians have, however, said that the crews of both the intruder aircraft and the Russian plane it collided with were killed.