Russian technicians are now helping Iraq jam crucial satellite signals needed to guide bombs and military aircraft, U.S. official

MOSCOW, March 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The U.S. on Sunday, March 23, complained that Russia has not adequately dealt with its concerns about arms sales to Iraq by Russian firms which it said threatened the safety of U.S., British and Australian troops now invading Baghdad, adding that Russian technicians are helping Iraq jam satellite signals that currently guide bombs and military aircraft.   

The State Department said it had repeatedly brought sales of "militarily sensitive equipment" to Iraq to the attention of senior officials in Moscow, including in the days leading up to the current conflict, but had not yet received a satisfactory response.

"Such equipment in the hands if the Iraqi military may pose a direct threat to U.S. and coalition armed forces," Brenda Greenberg, a department spokeswoman, was quoted by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying.

"We regard this as a very serious matter," she said. "We thus have raised this issue with the Russian government a number of times, including at senior levels and particularly over the past two weeks."

"Their response so far has not been satisfactory," Greenberg said, adding: "We hope that the responsible Russian agencies will take our concerns seriously."

Russian Technicians Helping Iraqi Defense

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official told AFP Sunday that  Russian technicians are now helping Iraq jam crucial satellite signals needed to guide bombs and military aircraft.

Washington had evidence that personnel from a Russian firm were now in Iraq and attempting to help set up and operate a sophisticated system that interferes with the U.S. global positioning technology, he said on condition of anonymity.

"The system is complex and there is evidence that they (Russian technicians) have been trying to bring this system on-line and help the Iraqis operate it," the official told AFP.

"We are extremely upset and have raised this at very senior levels with the Russians," the official said.

The official stressed that there was no indication that the Russian government was involved in the efforts, but said Moscow had been "extremely unhelpful" in addressing the U.S. concerns.

The Washington Post reported earlier Sunday that U.S. officials were deeply concerned by evidence that three Russian firms were selling weapons and sophisticated electronic military equipment to Iraq.

One firm has helped the Iraqi military deploy electronic jamming equipment against U.S. planes and bombs while the other two have sold antitank missiles and thousands of night-vision goggles, the Post said, citing unidentified sources.

The sources told the paper that despite being confronted with a paper trail of documents supporting the concerns, the Russians had first denied the existence of the company selling the jamming equipment and then said only they would watch its activities very closely.

Last month, the Post said Washington learned that an Iraqi order for thousands of night vision goggles was due to be shipped by one of the Russian firms and asked Moscow to halt it.

Instead, Russian officials replied by saying either that a few goggles had been given as gifts to Middle Eastern leaders or that it was the weekend and nothing could be done, the paper said, citing the sources.

In addition, over the past two months Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's government has boosted its procurement of anti-tank missiles made by a Russian company named KBP Tula, the Post said.

Of greatest concern to Washington, the paper said, is the sales of the jamming devices which can interfere with U.S. global positioning equipment needed for aircraft navigation and ground forces.

U.S. officials began to complain about the sales of the equipment by Moscow-based firm Aviaconversiya in June 2002 but were met with denials that the company existed despite its Internet site and extensive media coverage.   

Russians Deny

The Russian company on Sunday flatly denied that its technicians are helping Iraq jam crucial satellite signals needed to guide bombs and military aircraft as U.S.-led forces advance on Baghdad.

"They (U.S.) are just making this up. Let them capture one of our personnel," said Oleg Antonov, director of Moscow-based Aviaconversiya.

"They won't find any of our technicians in Iraq. The Americans are trying to find a scapegoat because their bombs are not falling as accurately as they want," he told AFP.

The company's director flatly denied it had been selling jamming equipment to the Iraqis, though he admitted Baghdad had been interested in acquiring the system.

Antonov told AFP that Iraqi representatives had expressed interest repeatedly in the jammers, designed to confound global positioning system guidance gear used in aircraft and bombs.

But he denied that his firm had sold any such devices to Iraq, suggesting that the Baghdad regime had either manufactured the jammers themselves or bought them from a third country.

"We didn't sell anything to Iraq. Over the past four years, Iraq sent us their representatives expressing an interest in placing orders.

"They came some 15 times, held negotiations, promised to transfer funds, but they left and we never saw them again. They didn't buy anything," said Antonov.

"I told the Americans and our presidential administration that probably Iraq made these jammers itself or with the help of Yugoslavia," Antonov said.

Contacted by AFP, the Russian foreign ministry and the U.S. embassy in Moscow say that they could not comment on the matter.

Another Russian firm, KBP Tula, which is accused of selling anti-tank missiles to Iraq over the past two months, could not be reached for comment.