News

British Indian arms dealer arrested in U.S.

Wednesday, 13 August 2003, 00:00 Hrs

LONDON: A British arms dealer of Indian origin has been arrested in the U.S. for allegedly masterminding a plot to supply surface-to-air missiles to a man he thought was an Al Qaida terrorist.

Tuesday's arrest of Hekmat Lakhani has again highlighted the vulnerability of Western countries despite several security measures following September 11.

The arrest was made at Newark, New Jersey, following a multinational sting operation by intelligence operatives of the U.S., Russia and Britain, the BBC said. Lakhani is believed to have been living in London.

According to New York Newsday, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also arrested two other people.

A New York Times report said U.S. officials involved in the arrest said the Briton was not a well-known arms dealer and was merely interested in the profits and was not connected to terrorists.

The dealer imported a state-of-the-art Russian-made Igla missile into the U.S. and believed he was selling it to an Islamic terrorist. But his buyer was an undercover agent of the FBI.

"The arms dealer's voice is heard on tape saying he wanted the missile to be used to shoot down a large passenger plane," a BBC report said.

Western intelligence officials were quoted as saying that they were aware the missile was being brought into the U.S. at Baltimore docks, shipped from Russia and disguised as medical equipment.

Lakhani flew to New York with his wife Sunday on a British Airways flight from London. But he was followed on the plane by an FBI agent and taken into custody in New Jersey when he collected a package marked "medical supplies".

No actual terrorists are thought to have been involved in the operation, but the incident has demonstrated the vulnerability of Western nations.

Russia is reported to have detected the arms dealer five months ago in St Petersburg and Moscow, and then kept him under surveillance.

Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised the FBI to have an undercover agent sent to Russia to work with Russian security agencies.

Over the last 15 months, there have been three foiled attempts by groups linked to Al Qaida to shoot down planes carrying Western or Israeli passengers.

Source: IANS

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