Turkey 'gives Israel deadline' for drone delivery

[pkd]

Turkey 'gives Israel deadline' for drone delivery

ANKARA: Turkey has given Israeli contractors 50 days to fulfil a long-delayed deal for the delivery of 10 drone aircraft for the Turkish army, Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul was quoted as saying Saturday.

The delays in the project, launched in 2005, have come against a backdrop of tensions between the two regional allies over Israel's devastating war on the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year.

The two contractors -- Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit -- have been sent a letter to fulfil the terms of the deal within 50 days, the CNN Turk news channel quoted Gonul as saying.

"If this letter does not bear fruit either, the tender may be cancelled. But there is no cancellation at the moment," Gonul told CNN Turk, according to the report.

Negotiations between the two sides are continuing, he added.

Israeli officials have rejected suggestions that the delay had political links, saying the project was snagged by technical problems as Turkish-manufactured equipment proved too heavy for the aircraft.

Turkish media reported this week that Turkey had returned the only two planes to have been delivered on grounds they failed to meet the required technical norms concerning flying altitude and time.

Turkey awarded the contract in April 2005, saying that it involved the manufacture of three unmanned aerial vehicle systems, including 10 aircraft, surveillance equipment and ground control stations.

The contract was part of a 183-million-dollar project in which Turkish firms were to provide sub-systems and services amounting to 30 percent of the project.

Officials had said at the time the Israeli side was expected to complete their part in 24 to 30 months.

Israel's ties with Turkey, its main regional ally since 1998 when the two signed a military cooperation accord, took a downturn in January when the Islamist-rooted government in Ankara launched an unprecedented barrage of criticism of the Jewish state over its deadly offensive on Gaza.

Last month Turkey excluded Israel from joint military drills and said ties would continue to suffer unless Israel ends "the humanitarian tragedy" in Gaza and revives peace talks with the Palestinians.

 

[automoto]

Why are so many Israelis arrested over illegal arms deals worldwide?


The U.S. authorities' recent arrest of an Israeli for seeking to sell arms to Somalia raises disturbing questions and answers.



At least seven Israeli arms dealers are currently in jail in four countries - the United States, Russia, France and Britain - on charges of illegal arms dealing. Some of them are also suspected of crimes such as forgery, bribery, money laundering and violating UN Security Council embargoes. Such arrests are briefly covered in Israel and then forgotten. But they have a cumulative effect that is very damaging to Israel's image, or what remains of it.

Even though it is doubtful whether those in jail know one another, they have quite a lot in common. All are men in their fifties or sixties. All are well to do (or were in the past ), having made most of their money in international arms dealing or in exporting security services and equipment from Israel. They served in the Israel Defense Forces and reached mid-level ranks (from captain to lieutenant colonel ), and when they were arrested, they denied the charges. Friends who came to their assistance described them, naturally, as "the salt of the earth."

All seven are familiar faces in the corridors of the defense establishment, and at one time received arms dealing permits from the Defense Ministry. All sought to "expedite procedures" in violation of local or international laws, and did so out of pure greed. Due to this covetousness, they also fell into traps and can expect to face many years in jail.

Shimon Naor-Hershkowitz is detained in France and will apparently be extradited to Romania, where he will serve an 11-year jail sentence. He was convicted of forging documents (end-user certificates ) that he used to purchase Romanian arms together with a Romanian partner (who later informed on him to the authorities ). The arms were ostensibly destined for Togo, but in reality were sent to rebels in Angola.

Yair Klein has been held for over a year in a Russian jail, after being arrested there at the behest of Colombia, which wants him on charges of training drug barons' bodyguards. Klein, almost 70, may be the Israeli who comes closest to being a "mercenary" of the ugliest sort. He has previously done jail time in Sierra Leone.

In a British jail sits Gidon Sarig, 58, who was sentenced several months ago to seven years in prison for selling arms and other combat gear to parties in Venezuela, Peru, Senegal, Nigeria, Gabon and, primarily, Sri Lanka.

And in January, Ofer Pazaf, 50, the president of a Kfar Sava company that works as an intermediary and represents security consultants and defense industries, was arrested in Las Vegas. Arrested with him were two other Israelis who have lived in the U.S. for several years: Yohanan Cohen, 47, the CEO of a San Francisco company that manufactures security gear, and Haim Gary, 50, the president of a Miami company that functions as a middleman for defense companies.

All three, along with 20 Americans and people of other nationalities, were arrested in a sting operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigations. One of the agents posed as a representative of the defense minister of an African country and pretended to be looking to purchase arms in return for a bribe - known in the professional lingo as a "commission."

The latest Israeli to find himself behind bars is Hanoch Miller, 53, who was arrested a few days ago in the United States. Together with his partner, retired U.S. Air Force colonel Joseph O'Toole, he is charged with attempts to obtain and sell thousands of AK-47 (Kalashnikov ) rifles to the "government" of Somaliland, a separatist region of northern Somalia. The arms were to have been purchased in the United States and to have been sent on cargo planes to Panama and Bosnia, and from there to Somaliland. But the plan fell through because the third partner, who was supposed to purchase the rifles for Miller and O'Toole, was actually an informer for the customs authorities.

European sources - security and insurance personnel working in Somalia, who are well acquainted with the area - told Haaretz that this story does not make sense, and that the official version put out by the U.S. authorities may conceal a different story. For instance, the indictment stated that the arms were to have been sent to a city called Bandera in northern Somalia. But a look at a map of Somalia reveals that this name is fictitious: No such place exists in Somalia.

Moreover, the shipping documents stated that the cargo was for "the Ministry of Defense of the Somali Republic." But the government of the separatist area known as Somaliland does not refer to itself as the "Somali Republic." Ever since the military coup in 1969 that sent the country down the sewer, its official name has been the Democratic Republic of Somalia.