- Did Israel Sell US Military Copters To Colombian Drug
Dealers? AVIV ñ Israel has acknowledged that U.S.-origin military
helicopters were sold to Colombia and might have landed in the hands of
drug dealers.
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- Israeli officials said five MD-500 surveillance helicopters
were sold by the Defense Ministry and ended up in the hands of a Colombian
national. The helicopters were not transferred to the authorized end-user,
they said.
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- The MD-500 helicopters were transferred from U.S. Air
Force surplus to Israel as part of Washington's military aid to the Jewish
state, Middle East Newsline reported. From there, Israel's Defense Ministry
sold the aircraft to the private firm, Globus Aviation.
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- Officials said the end-user for the MD-500 was to have
been either authorities in Mexico or Spain. The MD-500 was manufactured
by McDonnell Douglas, now part of Boeing.
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- Instead, the end-user was identified as Aviel, a private
firm from Colombia. Officials confirmed that the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration has called for an Israeli investigation.
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- Officials had no information on Aviel. But they said
the helicopters might have been transferred or leased to drug dealers or
related criminal activities in Colombia.
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- Israeli nationals have been linked to the transfer of
weapons and military platforms to criminal activities in South America.
In August 2003, three Israeli nationals were ordered arrested by Guatemala
for the alleged sale of weapons to Colombian paramilitary groups.
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- In an unrelated development, Israel's Defense Ministry
has agreed to delay the delivery of U.S.-built armored Humvee military
vehicles for the Israeli military. The ministry agreed to a U.S. request
that the vehicles would be instead delivered to the U.S. military in Iraq.
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- Israel had ordered 120 Humvee vehicles from the United
States ñ with an option for additional 100 ñ in a deal to
have been financed by military aid from Washington. The first batch of
37 armored jeeps were to have been delivered over the next week and deployed
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
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- Under U.S. law, the United States has the right to expropriate
its foreign military exports for U.S. military use. Until a year ago, Israel's
Plasan Sasa had produced the armored jeeps, but the Defense Ministry began
ordering them from the United States amid an Israeli government decision
to sharply reduce the defense budget.
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- Copyright © 2004 East West Services, Inc. http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_5.html
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