http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/World/missile_arrest030812.html
Briton Arrested on Suspicion of Planning to Smuggle Missile Into U.S. A British national was arrested this morning on suspicion of being involved in a plot to smuggle a surface-to-air missile into the United States, ABCNEWS has learned The man was arrested as part of an international sting conducted by American, British and Russian authorities. The sting began five months ago in Moscow, law enforcement sources said. This afternoon, law enforcement officials conducted a raid in midtown Manhattan to seize financial records and cash in connection with the case. According to reports, two men believed to be involved in money laundering were arrested at a gem dealership. The unidentified British national allegedly sought to smuggle a Russian-made surface-to-air missile into the country, and he believed he was selling the missile to would-be terrorists, sources said. Instead, he sold it to undercover agents. The man, of Indian descent, thought the missile might be used to shoot down a passenger jet, sources said. Sources said the kind of missile he wanted to buy was the SA-18 Igla, which is said to be one of the most sophisticated such weapons in the world. He is said to have paid $85,000 to someone he believed was a corrupt Russian military person, but who was actually an undercover officer. The weapon that came into the United States was unusable because the Russians who were participating with the sting sold it to the suspect that way, sources said. The disarmed Russian missile was shipped to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York last month in a crate marked "medical supplies." Undercover agents took the man to a warehouse in New Jersey so he could see the missile and then to the Wyndham Hotel in Elizabeth, N.J., where he thought he was going to get final payment for the missile. Instead, he was arrested. Officials did not disclose the potential charges the three arrested men could face. The British national and the two alleged money launderers are expected to make their first court appearance Wednesday morning in Newark federal court. Raids were also conducted in the United Kingdom but it is unclear what these yielded. Today's arrests came as authorities in Saudi Arabia said they thwarted an al Qaeda cell that was allegedly planning to blow up a British Airways passenger jet. Older Missiles on Black Market The British national boasted that the missile could be used to shoot down Air Force One, the presidential 747. But he did not say the missile was going to be used for that purpose, sources said. According to ABCNEWS consultant Richard Clarke, most older surface-to-air missiles are not difficult to obtain. Older Russian-built SA-7 shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles are more readily available on the black market. Unlike the SA-7, the SA-18 Igla is a more modern weapon with highly accurate infrared targeting capability, making it much sought-after by terrorists. "The older generation of SA-7 missiles are relatively cheap and easy to get on the black market, but the problem is they don't work very well," Clarke said. "The younger generation of missiles are pretty much kept under lock and key and very hard to get." Surface-to-air missiles cannot reach aircraft once they are airborne, Clarke said. The weapons are used to attack planes once they take off or are about to land. Many U.S. aircraft, he said, are equipped to deflect surface-to-air attacks by using flares to throw off the targets of the heat-seeking missiles. "Other aircraft, Air Force One and a few other high-value U.S. aircraft, have additional technology that's classified, and it's designed to confuse these missiles," Clarke said. "But to secure thousands of other aircraft, that would cost billions of dollars in defense." Sources told ABCNEWS that the British national's boasts of bringing down Air Force One were not taken seriously. In addition, sources said, Air Force One has the capability to thwart such an attack. Not an Uncommon Phenomenon Attempts to smuggle surface-to-air missiles have not been uncommon since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Testifying before Congress in February, CIA Director George Tenet said that al Qaeda was developing new means of attacking the United States and U.S. interests, which included using such mobile missiles. "Al Qaeda is also developing or refining new means of attack, including use of surface-to-air missiles, poisons, and air, surface, and underwater methods to attack maritime targets," Tenet said. "If given the choice, al Qaeda terrorists will choose attacks that achieve multiple objectives - striking prominent landmarks, inflicting mass casualties, causing economic disruption, rallying support through shows of strength." In 2002, there were at least two other incidents involving suspected terrorists and smuggled surface-to-air missiles. In June 2002, intelligence sources said a captured terrorist, Abu Huzifa, who led an al Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia, told investigators he slipped through Saudi security around Prince Sultan Air Force Base with two shoulder-fired SA-7 anti-aircraft missiles. He told interrogators he fired at an American plane that was taking off, but his missile failed to "lock on." Frightened, Huzifa told investigators, he buried the second missile in the sand and ran away. In November 2002, two shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles were fired at an Arkia Israeli Airlines passenger jet at Moi International Airport in Kenya, initiating what appears to be a coordinated terrorist attack. Police also said investigators found a launcher for an SA-7 Strela, a Soviet-designed shoulder-fired antiaircraft missile, and two missile casings in the Changamwe area of Mombasa, about a mile from the airport ABCNEWS confirmed that the serial number on the launcher found in Kenya was from the same series as the launcher tube found in May 2002 near Prince Sultan Air Force base in Saudi Arabia. xponent The Game Is Afoot Maru rob _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
