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US probing arms smuggling case involving Pakistan government

The details of the case, obtained by the National Broadcasting Service (NBS) and published by The Washington Post, point to Pakistan's involvement with Saudi extremist Osama bin Laden, the Taliban and terrorism in J&K.

The weapons sought to be purchased and smuggled illegally by the Pakistan government, its military and the ISI through agents for at least $32 million included, as revealed in a sting operation by US authorities, Stingers - shoulder-fired missiles to bring down aircraft - other types of missiles, 120 mm rockets, grenades, night vision goggles and even nuclear components, the Post reported.

Intermediaries, claiming to act on behalf of the Pakistani government, allegedly tried to buy weapons from a diamond thief-turned-informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (an arm of the treasury whose employees include the Secret Service, which protects the US president), it said.

Initially, the US government had tried to hush up the incident, which occurred in June 1991 in the state of Florida, pleading "diplomatic" and "national reasons".

However, in the post-September 11 atmosphere, the US government has reopened the case in which the Pakistani army and the ISI may have been caught red-handed, the Post said.

The case attracted little public notice when arrests were made in June 2001. It resulted in a single guilty plea and the sealing of court files for another defendant.

One of the reasons for sealing the files was that prosecutors wanted to remove references to Pakistan from public filings because of diplomatic concerns, the paper said.

The alleged weapons buyers repeatedly said in conversations taped by authorities that they represented the Pakistani government and were arranging the purchase for the ISI, the then Taliban government of Afghanistan and/or terrorists, the paper said.

Many details of the case had not been made public previously.

The investigation was brought to light by Dateline NBC, which shared some material in advance of its programme being scheduled to be aired on Friday night, including audio tapes.

Lawyers for the two men arrested in the sting operation, including Jim Eisenberg and Ved Rodriguez, denied any involvement of their clients in the arms purchase.

The first is the attorney for Mohammed 'Mike' Malik, one of the potential buyers who remains free and whose case is sealed, while the second represents Diaa Mohsen, now in prison.

Asad Hayauddin, spokesman for the Pakistani embassy in Washington, denied any involvement of his government saying, "Maybe, they were rogues."

However, "The US government is convinced that the alleged buyers were, in some fashion, connected to militant groups affiliated with the Pakistani government," the Post said.

Having rejected Pakistan's denial of its involvement, US officials are now belatedly pursuing the case with vigour, it added.

PTI

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