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Probe into illegal Indian exports to Iraq
By New Delhi Bureau Chief Satinder Bindra
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- As the Bush administration builds its case for a war with Iraq, it is getting help from an unexpected place -- a two-year investigation by Indian intelligence officials into a little known Indian engineering company. The company, NEC Engineers Private Ltd., is being probed for violating Indian export controls by helping Iraq to acquire equipment and materials "capable of being used for the production of chemicals for mass destruction," according to Indian court records obtained by CNN.
Procuring such materials would place Iraq in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. According to the court documents, NEC Engineers Private Ltd., has also sent technical personnel to Iraq within the past several years to the Fallujah II chemical plant. United Nations weapons inspectors say the plant is now inoperative, but it has been used in the past to produce large quantities of chlorine -- a chemical commonly used in water purification, but is also a building block for chemical weapons. In statements to Indian intelligence authorities in the records obtained by CNN, NEC Engineers Private Ltd.'s employees acknowledge they were sent to Fallujah II to install equipment. These records also contain a letter from NEC Engineers' Private Limited to Fallujah's managers demanding $1 million for services rendered at the plant. Missile ingredientsBetween 1998 and 2001, investigators allege, NEC Engineers Private Ltd; shipped 10 consignments of highly sensitive equipment worth $800,000, including titanium vessels and centrifugal pumps. Titanium is an extremely strong, yet light material that is frequently used in manufacturing the casing and warheads for missiles. The shipments also contained three tons of what is called "spherical aluminium powder," a substance that can be used to make specialty paints and coatings, but is also an ingredient in solid rocket fuel for missiles. According to a British intelligence report, most of NEC Engineers' exports of spherical aluminium powder found their way to the Al Mamoun rocket propulsion facility just south of Baghdad. Indian authorities have launched an investigation to find out what was shipped to Iraq and when. "This company has been investigated for violation of domestic laws concerning export controls, and currently it is not allowed to export or import because of action taken by the concerned authorities," said Indian government spokesperson Navtej Sarna. Charges expectedOver the past few months, court records show, three NEC Engineers Private Limited officials have been detained for interrogation. None of these officials have yet been charged, although prosecutors say they expect to file criminal charges soon. Indian investigators say NEC Engineers Private Ltd. falsified Indians customs documents and mislabeled goods to get its shipments out of India and routed highly sensitive goods to Iraq through other Middle Eastern countries to evade United Nations restrictions on Iraqi imports. The company admits it did export some titanium products, but not to Iraq. It says it had proper licenses to ship the goods from the Indian port of Mumbai to Amman, Jordan, and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. NEC Engineers Private Ltd's lawyer, R.K. Anand, says he does not know how the goods reached Iraq. "The goods might have reached Iraq from somewhere else," he said. Anand says the company never shipped items banned for export by India, such as spherical aluminum powder. "This spherical powder is not available in India ... It's made only in Germany and one other country, to the best of my knowledge. I don't think that you can supply it from India," Anand said. U.S. 'ploy'The Iraqi ambassador to New Delhi, Salah Al Mukhtar also says his country has no connections with NEC Engineers Private Ltd. "NEC Engineers Private Ltd. has exported some material to both UAE and Jordan legally, but not to Iraq," he said. "There is no proof this material reached Iraq." The Iraqis are also dismissing court records containing admissions by NEC Engineers Private Ltd. officials who say they visited Fallujah several times. "The lawyer of the accused said officially and published here in New Delhi that the accused was tortured to admit this information," Ambassador Mukhtar told CNN. Indian intelligence denies torturing any company officials. Now, as this case takes on a more public dimension, Mukhtar says its all part of a ploy by the U.S. government to prepare international public opinion for a possible war with Iraq. "It is part of the American campaign to accuse Iraq and demonize Iraq internationally," he said. Last July, the United States officially sanctioned NEC Engineers Private Ltd.'s founder, Hans Raj Shiv, under the Iran-Iraq Non-proliferation Act. Shiv is currently not permitted to conduct any business with the United States. According to Indian investigators, Shiv has failed to appear at any court hearings and is believed to have left the country. Indian investigators say this case unravels a complex and well thought out scheme for supplying Iraq with the building blocks for development of chemical weapons and missiles in violation of U.N. resolutions. Senior Indian officials concede this case has tarnished the country's image. The NEC electronics company of Japan is in no way connected to NEC Engineers Private Ltd.
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