LONDON,
May 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - British Foreign Secretary
Jack Straw demanded an explanation from Israel about the use of
British military equipment in Israeli tanks and attack helicopters,
the two main weapons used against Palestinians in the Occupied
Territories, a U.K. daily newspaper reported.
Evidence
that parts of the systems are made by British companies contradicts
Israeli assurances that British arms would not be used in the
territories, said the British daily newspaper, The Guardian.
Israeli
Merkava tanks have been equipped with cooling systems made by the
Airtechnology Group, the Surrey-based company confirmed Wednesday, May
29. It said the equipment had not been supplied to Israel since 1996.
British
equipment, including missile trigger systems, are also used in
American Apache helicopters supplied to Israel, the paper added.
They
are made by Smiths Group, whose U.S. subsidiaries supply a number of
key parts for the helicopters, which have been repeatedly used in
attacks on Palestinian areas.
“In
April, the government asked Israel to explain how the chassis from
British Centurion tanks, exported between 1958 and 1970, came to be
used in armored personnel carriers in the Occupied Territories.
“The
Foreign Office said the modification contradicted a written pledge
from Israel in November 2000 that ‘no U.K.-originated equipment ...
are used as part of the defense force's activities in the
territories’."
Straw
revealed then that Israel had refused to give a pledge that the
armored cars would no longer be used in operations against
Palestinians, the Guardian said.
On
August 2001, the General Accounting Office (GAO) - the
investigative arm of the U.S. Congress - started an investigation of
the sale of U.S.-made arms to Israel, news agencies reported.
In
the past four years, America has provided Israel with about $5.2bn (£3.6bn)
of arms, financed largely by annual grants of military aid by
Congress, according to the British daily newspaper, The Independent.
Such
weapons include F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft and attack helicopters.
