Slovaks charged over N. Korea arms
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The radar is allegedly the only system to detect U.S. "stealth" aircraft.
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BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (Reuters) -- Slovak police have recommended that a former Nationalist Party lawmaker and a colleague be charged with trying to illegally sell a sophisticated radar system to North Korea.
The case involves efforts to sell Tamara radar -- allegedly the only system able to spot U.S. stealth aircraft -- to North Korea in 1998.
Former Slovak Nationalist Party deputy Vitazoslav Moric and a colleague face up to eight years in prison if convicted, officials said.
"The investigation is finished. We have given it to the prosecutor with a proposal to charge them. I expect them to agree with the charges," interior ministry spokesman Boris Azaltovic told Reuters.
The ministry said the men bought the equipment from Ukraine in 1998 and tried to ship it to North Korea after falsifying export permits that said the end user of the systems would be the Slovak army.
Customs officials seized the shipment before it could be exported.
Moric has denied any wrongdoing to Slovak media. He was not immediately available for comment on Monday.
Slovakia, which joins NATO in April, has been criticised for lax controls over illicit arms trades after being a main weapons producer in the former Soviet-backed Czechoslovak federation.
Groups such as Human Rights Watch have criticised it for allowing the illegal export of arms to Angola, Liberia and other conflict countries under international embargo, although no major cases have been reported in the past several years.
Copyright 2004
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
