Russia in arms-to-Iraq scandal
By CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russian weapons suppliers have attempted to sell surface-to-air missiles to Iraq, via a third country, but were prevented from doing so, a senior U.S. diplomat has told CNN.
The Russian government stopped the sales after Washington -- armed with intelligence information -- alerted Moscow to the potential transfers.
The weapons suppliers were trying to sell Igla shoulder-launched missiles to Iraq, but sought to hide that fact by indicating it was for other countries in the region, including Syria, the diplomat said.
The United States is concerned about such transfers, he said, and has alerted Moscow to several potential transfers from Russian companies of military equipment, including systems that could increase the threat to U.S. pilots patrolling the no-fly zone in Iraq.
"While Russian bureaucratic wheels sometimes turn slowly," he added, "we believe Russia has responded constructively in the majority of cases."
U.S. officials previously raised the issue of arms supplies to Iraq from former Soviet countries like Ukraine and Belarus.
Last year, U.S. investigators said there was credible information that Ukraine has sold the sophisticated Kolchuga radar systems to Iraq.
The investigators said they could not prove Ukraine openly and officially transferred the radar to Iraq but said "covert or illegal arms transfers, particularly with the complicity of third parties, remain a credible possibility."
