U.S. arrests 17 in M.E. arms ring bust

Press, 24 April 1986, Page 6

U.S. arrests 17 in M.E. arms ring bust

NZPA-Reuter New York Seventeen men including a retired Israeli general were charged yesterday with plotting to sell more than SUS2 billion ($3.56 billion) worth of American aircraft, missiles and tanks to Iran. American officials said the suspects, who included citizens of the United States, Israel, Britain, France, West Germany, and Greece, were members of the biggest arms ring snared in the United States. Nine of the men — including the former Israeli officer, Avraham Bar-am, aged 52, — were arrested in Bermuda and New York. Warrants have been sworn for the others, charging them with conspiracy to sell illicit weaponry. Israel denied any part in the plot A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the Government had no knowledge of the case.

In the past Israel has admitted selling spare parts to Iran, including tyres for its United States made Phantom fighterbombers for use in the Gulf war with Iraq. The chief United States prosecutor in New York, Mr Rudolph Giuliani, called the aborted sale “mind-boggling” in scope. He and officials of the United States Customs Service, which took part in the investigation, said the deal would have included hundreds of Phantom and F 5 jets more than 15,000 air-to-air and wire-guided Tow missiles, and scores of tanks. Helicopters, long-range artillery and several Hercules transport planes, were also included. Mr William von Raab, the Customs Commissioner, accused the defendants of being brokers of death who operated a terrorist flea market. Mr Giuliani and Mr von

Raab gave no details of how the arms ring was uncovered, but law enforcement sources said they believed that a participant was co-operating with authorities. The officials said Baram and four other men were arrested in Bermuda after they flew to the island for a meeting to make final arrangements for the deal. The five suspects in New York also were arrested after a meeting. It was alleged that a key figure in the case was Samuel Evans, an American lawyer based in London who located three separate groups who could have obtained arms and the necessary documentation from foreign officials to falsely represent the destination of the military equipment and weapons. Among those charged were several Greeks, including a ship owner, Ni-

kos Minardos, aged 54, who listed a California address. Officials said that the arms would have been shipped to Iran aboard Greek vessels. They said the weapons in the case were now in Israel and several other countries. Besides Bar-am, Evans and Minardos, the others charged were identified as William Northrup, aged 41, of the United States, John De La Roque, of France; Guri Eisenberg, aged 31, and Israel Eisenberg, aged 55, of Israel; Hans Bihn, Ralf Kopka, Hans Schneider and Herman Moll, aged 29, all of West Germany. A. R. Flearmoy, aged 65, from England, Kourentis Dimitrios-Alex-andros and Staboulopoulos Thanos, of Greece, and Bernard Veillot of France were also charged. The two other men were identified only as Mr Hebroni and Mr Humposa.