Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible
Page 36
27 Los Angeles Times interview with U.S. Defense official, May 2002.
28 First report of the Monitoring Group on Afghanistan, UN Security Council, January 15, 2002, S/2002/65, para. 22.
29 Transcript, including time and date of interview, in possession of the authors.
30 Eddy Surmont, “Justice System: Four Bulgarians Arrested: Arms Trafficking from Ostend,” Le Soir, February 9, 2002, trans. FBIS.
31 Press release, by Luc de Temmerman, Brussels, February 18, 2002.
32 Ibid.
33 Copy of the letter in possession of the authors. The letter confirms that Ruprah’s lawyers had told him his telephone had been tapped, confirmed to the authors by Belgian officials.
34 London Sunday Telegraph and Australian Associated Press, February 17, 2002
35 Authors’ interviews with two sources with direct knowledge of the operation.
Chapter 12: “We Are Very Limited in What We Can Do”
1 With Peter Hain’s public attacks on Bout, the British press, led by the Financial Times, the Sunday Times, and the Guardian, had published accounts of Bout’s activities. The Belgian reporter Dirk Draulans did groundbreaking work by reporting on his travels with Bout in the DRC bush. The first American to profile Bout was the Chicago Tribune’s Paul Salopek, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who detailed the Bout network’s activities in the DRC and elsewhere in Africa. The articles, which ran in December 2001, included an extensive interview with Richard Chichakli, who at the time was hardly shy about identifying himself as a Bout associate. In late January 2002 a new cluster of accounts raised the first public hints about the Bout organization’s clandestine dealings with Islamic militants in Afghanistan. The first was an article that appeared in the Washington Monthly by investigative reporter Ken Silverstein. The piece told briefly of the Bout operation’s shift from the Northern Alliance to the Taliban and quoted Lee Wolosky, who had returned to a private law practice in New York. Within days, Andre Verloy and Philippe van Niekirk of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists cited secret Belgian and South African intelligence reports that reported the Bout network’s alleged $50 million earnings from Taliban weapons sales. After a Novermber 2001 story chronicling the secret use by the Taliban and al Qaeda of Ariana Airways flights to ship in arms, transfer cash and narcotics, and move terror operatives, Judy Pasternak and Stephen Braun of the Los Angeles Times followed up with a January 2002 story describing the Sharjah meeting between Mullah Farid Ahmed and agents for Bout-orbit air firms. The Washington Post’s Douglas Farah followed with several stories following the trail of contraband diamonds, gold, and other commodities that had been exploited by both Islamic militants and Bout’s operation. A Los Angeles Times team that included Braun and Pasternak and Moscow staffers John Daniszewski, Maura Reynolds, and Sergei L. Loiko responded in mid-May with a detailed report on the secret scheme that enabled the Taliban to amass a fleet of cargo planes sold by Bout-linked companies. The story also provided the first full account of efforts by U.S. and international officials to arrest Bout. Finally, in August 2003, the New York Times Magazine carried a lengthy profile based on a extensive interview with Bout by freelancer Peter Landesman.
2 Translated transcript of Viktor Bout interview with Radio Echo Moskvy, February 28, 2002.
3 Ibid.
4 “Gunrunners,” Frontline, PBS, May 2002, accessed at www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/sierraleone/bout.html.
5 Ibid.
6 “In Response to the Recent Published Reports concerning Victor Bout,” posted by the ICIJ at www.publicintegrity.org/report.aspx?aid=244&sid=100.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Viktor Baranetsm and Igor Chernyak, “Interview with Viktor But,” Moscow Komsomlskaya Pravda, March 5, 2002, trans. FBIS.
10 Ibid.
11 Los Angeles Times interview with U.S. national security official, May 2002.
12 “Report of the Panel of Experts on Liberia,” October 25, 2002, paras. 62-82.
13 Ibid., p. 18.
14 Nicholas Woods, “New Yugoslav-Iraqi Ties Alleged: U.S. Says Defense Firms Developing Cruise Missile for Baghdad,” Washington Post, October 27, 2002, p. A1.
15 “Report of the Panel of Experts on Liberia,” para. 18. For a look at the impact of the fishing on Lake Victoria and the presence of Russian pilots there after delivering weapons elsewhere, see the film documentary Darwin’s Nightmare, written and directed by Hubert Sauper, distributed by Mille et Une Productions, Coop 99 and Saga Film, 2004.
16 Douglas Farah, “Al Qaeda Gold Moved to Sudan,” Washington Post, September 3, 2002, p. A1.
17 Translation of Osama bin Laden’s audio message of May 6, 2004, provided to the authors by Rohan Gunaratna.
18 Farah, “Al Qaeda Gold.”
19 “Belize: Country Brief 2003,” Intelligence Division, Drug Enforcement Administration, March 2004, p. 5.
20 Authors’ interviews with Belgian officials and review of intelligence reports.
21 Los Angeles Times interview with Joseph M. Meyers, October 2004.
22 William F. Wechsler and Lee S. Wolosky, “Moscow Should Hand Over Fugitive Weapons Trafficker,” Los Angeles Times, July 23, 2002.
23 Airway, August 2001, pp. 15-16.
24 Authors’ interviews with senior U.S. Treasury official, May 23, 2006.
Chapter 13: Welcome to Baghdad
1 National Defense, July 2002. In a May 2006 interview with the authors, Handy, now retired from the air force, added that U.S. military planners went with Russian and Ukrainian air firms in Afghanistan and later in Iraq because their planes had reliable, heavy-duty lift capacity and “they were already flying in the area.” Handy added that West European carriers, for example, rarely won cargo contracts because “we never had an offer.”
2 Los Angeles Times interviews with Sergeant Steve Goldblatt and Captain Mason Sellers, November 2004.
3 Ibid.; RAMCC flight records obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
4 Mark Turner, Mark Huband, and Andrew Parker, “UK Snubs France over Arms Trafficker,” Financial Times, May 17, 2004.
5 Ibid.; RAMCC flight records.
6 Stephen Braun, Judy Pasternak, and T. Christian Miller, “Blacklisted Russian Tied to Iraq Deals,” Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2004.
7 Los Angeles Times interview with U.S. officials, November, 2004.
8 Washington Post, May 18, 2004.
9 Los Angeles Times interview with Belgian Foreign Ministry official, November 2004.
10 Los Angeles Times interview with Johan Peleman, October 2004.
11 RAMCC and Sharjah International Airport flight records, and Defense Logistics Agency records obtained by the Los Angeles Times; also, authors’ interview with air transport firm executive, July 16, 2005.
12 Braun, Pasternak, and Miller, “Blacklisted Russian.”
13 Los Angeles Times interview with Keith Chapman, November 2004.
14 Los Angeles Times interview with Dinu Kabiwar, November 2004.
15 Authors’ interview with air cargo executive, April 18, 2006.
16 RAMCC flight records
17 Los Angeles Times interviews with Igor Abadeyev, April 2002, and with U.S. officials, April 2002. An intelligence document provided to the Times showed that nine Jet Line planes were positively identified as Bout assets: three BAC One-Elevens, two Ilyushin Il-76s, two Lock-heed L-1329s, an Ilyushin Il-62, and an Antonov An-72. Aerocom’s and Jet Line’s shared address and phone appeared in Moldovan air cargo directories and was confirmed by U.S. officials.
18 UN panel of experts’ report on Liberia arms embargo violations, April 2003; Los Angeles Times interview with U.S. official, November 2004.
19 RAMCC flight records; Amnesty International report, “Dead on Time,” May 10, 2006; Guardian, May 10, 2006.
20 RAMCC flight records; Los Angeles Times interview with Shavia Ejav of the British Department for International Development, December 13, 2004.
21 Walker; RAMCC e-m
ails
22 RAMCC files; Los Angeles Times interview with former UN investigator, November 2004. The information about British Gulf ’s bank activities with San Air emerged from a 2001 inquiry by a UN Security Council panel of experts into Liberia’s violations of a UN arms embargo.
23 Los Angeles Times interview with Igor Zhuravylov, November 2004.
24 Braun, Pasternak, and Miller, “Blacklisted Russian.”
Chapter 14: Blacklisted and Still Flying
1 State Department diplomatic cable obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
2 E-mails obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
3 Los Angeles Times interview with Jeffrey Oster, November, 2004.
4 Letter from Assistant Secretary of State Paul V. Kelly to Senator Russell Feingold, June 2, 2004; Los Angeles Times interview with Johan Peleman, November 15, 2004.
5 Authors’ interviews with U.S. Treasury officials, May 23, 2006.
6 Ibid.
7 Los Angeles Times interview with senior Treasury official, November 2004.
8 State Department Office of Logistics Management order, June 7, 2004. Named on the ninety-day suspension list were Viktor Bout (along with eight aliases), his brother Sergei, and associates Richard Chichakli and Victor Lebedev. Sanctioned firms included Irbis, Air Bas, Air Cess, Air Pass, San Air General Trade FZE, San Air General LLC, Central African Airways, and Transavia Travel Agency.
9 State Department internal memo, June 15, 2004.
10 Authors’ interview with State Department official, May 12, 2006.
11 Ibid.
12 Memo from Deputy Secretary of State Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr., June 29, 2004.
13 Presidential Executive Order 13348, OFAC Liberia sanctions
14 Stephen Braun, Judy Pasternak, and T. Christian Miller, “Blacklisted Russian Tied to Iraq Deals,” Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2004. Account of Bout network’s flights for the U.S. military and private contractors in Iraq.
15 Authors’ interview with State Department official, May 2006.
16 Ibid.; Jonathan S. Landay, Knight Ridder Newspapers, April 28, 2005
17 Los Angeles Times interview with Federal Express official in Dubai, November 2004.
18 Los Angeles Times interview with Air Mobility Command spokesman, December 8, 2004.
19 Authors’ interview with private contractor, May 10, 2006
20 Letter from Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz to Senator Russell Feingold, January 31, 2005.
21 Los Angeles Times interviews with Fort Leonard Wood/Forney officials, November 2004.
22 Authors’ interview with Treasury official, May 23, 2004.
23 Internal State Department memo, July 2004, provided to the authors.
24 Internal State Department memo, September 2004, provided to the authors.
25 Los Angeles Times interviews with Victor Lebedev and Oleg Vakushin, November 2004.
26 Los Angeles Times interview with KBR spokeswoman Wendy Hall, December 13, 2004; also Lebedev and military officials, December 2004.
27 Alexander Harrowell, Yorkshire Ranter blog, December 9, 2005.
28 “Arms Flows in Eastern DR Congo,” All Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes Region, pp. 21-22.
29 Douglas Farah and Kathi Austin, “Air America: Viktor Bout and the Pentagon,” New Republic, January 23, 2006, p. 11.
30 “United Nations Group of Experts Report on the Democratic Republic of Congo,” January 25, 2005, paras. 81-83.
31 Ibid., paras. 66-67.
32 Ibid., para. 76.
33 OFAC designation, “Viktor Bout’s International Arms Trafficking Network,” April 26, 2004; authors’ interviews with U.S. government officials; Richard Chichakli Web site.
34 Authors’ interview with U.S. official.
35 Ibid.; OFAC designation, April 26, 2006. The Treasury action targeted Sergei Bout, Richard Chichakli, Sergeuei Dennisenko, Valeriy Naydo, and twenty-nine companies: Abidjan Freight (Liberia); Air Bas (Sharjah) ; Air Cess (Equatorial Guinea); Air Zory (Bulgaria); ATC, Ltd. (Gibraltar); Bakuvu Aviation Transport (Liberia); Business Air Services (Liberia); Centrafricain Airlines (Central African Republic); Central African Development Fund (Richardson, Texas); CET Aviation Enterprise (Ajman, UAE); Chichakli and Associates (Richardson, Texas); Richard A. Chichakli, PC (Richardson, Texas); Continue Professional Education, Inc. (Richardson, Texas); DHH Enterprises Inc. (Richardson, Texas); Gambia New Millenium Air, Inc. (Gambia); IB of America Holdings, Inc. (Richardson, Texas); Irbis Air Company (Kazakhstan); Moldtransavia SRL (Moldavia); Nordic, Ltd. (Bulgaria) ; Odessa Air (Uganda); Orient Star Corp. (Richardson, Texas); Rockman, Ltd. (Bulgaria); San Air General Trading, FZE (Ajman, UAE); Santa Cruz Imperial (Sharjah, UAE); Southbound, Ltd. (Gibraltar); Trans Aviation Global Group (Richardson, Texas); Transavia Network (Sharjah); Vial Company (Delaware); and Westbound, Ltd. (Gibraltar).
36 May 12, 2005, document obtained by authors.
Epilogue
1 “Russian Businessman Denies His Involvement in Arms Deliveries to the Congo,” MosNews, November 3, 2006.
2 “Peres: Hizbullah Used Russian-Made Weapons,” Associated Press, September 6, 2006; “Russia Fires Arms Export Official after Israeli Complaints,” Jerusalem Post, October 5, 2006.
3 “Air Company ‘Sayaht’ Opens Inner Investigation on Supposed Arms Traffic to Somalia,” accessed at http://intelligence-summit.blogspot.com/2006/08/air-company-sayahat-opens-inner.html.
4 Ibid.; The Kazakh Foreign Ministry declared: “With reference to information published by a number of media about illegal exports of military freights by an airplane Il-76, supposedly with Kazakhstan symbols, to Mogadishu, Somalia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan is authorized to declare that the Republic of Kazakhstan has nothing to do with this fact and that it has never exported any arms to that country.”
5 Application and affidavit for search warrant sworn out by U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms special agents Mitchell A. Worley and Michael A. Culp and approved by U.S. magistrate Thomas M. Blewitt, November 7, 2006; Stephen Braun, “Arms Transport Probe Zeros in on Pennsylvania Store,” Los Angeles Times, November 24, 2006
6 Tom Masland and Andrew Cohen, “Deal with the Devil: Writer-Director Andrew Niccol on What It Took to Make Lord of War,” Newsweek Web exclusive, September 23, 2005, accessed at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9442606/site/newsweek/.
7 “Russian Businessman Denies His Involvement.”
8 “Executive Order Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” October 31, 2006, accessed at www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/10/20061031-2.html
9 “Russian Businessman Denies His Involvement.”
INDEX
Abdayev, Igor
AB Fashions
Abidjan Freight
Abramoff, Jack “Pacman,”
Abu Dhabi
Abu Sayyaf
Aerocom
Aeroflot
Aerovista
Afghanistan
Bout contracted by U.S. for
Bout employees held hostage in
Bout quoted about
drug trade
Rabbani government of
See also Taliban
Africa
demand for automatic weapons
fair-governance ratings
humanitarian aid
as low U.S. priority
post-Cold War conflicts in
scorched-earth campaigns
See also individual names of countries
Ahmed, Farid
Air Bas
Air Cess
DRC and
replaced by Air Bas
SaferAfrica intelligence about
Taliban and
UN arms embargo violations
Air Charter Center (ACC)
airline personnel
fall of communism and
hired by U.S.
identification of
knowledge about cargo
Air Mobility Command (AMC)
Air Pass