June 8 (Bloomberg) -- A Syrian arms dealer was indicted on U.S. charges that he conspired to sell weapons to Colombia's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
U.S. prosecutors today unsealed an indictment charging Monzer al-Kassar, 61, in a conspiracy to arm the leftist group, known by its Spanish acronym FARC. Al-Kassar was arrested by Spanish authorities yesterday and held in Madrid at the request of the U.S., which claims he has a three-decade history of arming America's enemies.
``He arms and funds terrorists, sometimes on shared ideology of hatred of America and what we stand for and sometimes for greed,'' Karen Tandy, administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said in a press conference in Manhattan today.
The indictment charges al-Kassar and two associates with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and officials, and conspiracy to acquire anti-aircraft missiles. If convicted, the three men may be sentenced to as much as life in prison.
The two other defendants, Tareq Mousa al-Ghazi, 60, and Luis Felipe Moreno Godoy, 58, were arrested yesterday in Romania. Al-Kassar and Moreno are also charged with money laundering.
U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia in New York said at the press conference that the U.S. is working with authorities in Spain and Romania to extradite the three men to the U.S. for trial.
Terrorist Group
Prosecutors say the defendants were arrested as they tried to complete an arms deal with two confidential informants who claimed to represent FARC, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist group.
The men were promised more than $8 million to supply arms they were told would be used by FARC guerillas to kill Americans helping the Colombian government's cocaine-eradication efforts.
Al-Kassar was to deliver 8,000 machine guns, 2 million rounds of ammunition, 120 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and 2,400 hand grenades, Garcia said. Al-Kassar also agreed to sell surface-to-air missiles to shoot down U.S. helicopters in Colombia, he said.
Al-Kassar offered to send 1,000 men to fight U.S. officers in Colombia, Garcia said. He also offered to supply C4 explosives and experts to teach FARC fighters to construct improvised explosive devices for use against U.S. citizens and military personnel, Garcia said.
Al-Kassar was acquitted in Spain in 1995 of charges he supplied rifles used by Palestinian hijackers in the 1985 assault on the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro. Since the 1970s, al-Kassar has sold arms to groups in Nicaragua, Brazil, Cyprus, Bosnia, Croatia, Iran, Iraq and Somalia, among other countries, Garcia said.
Held in Madrid
Al-Kassar was taken into custody when he arrived in Madrid on a flight from Malaga on Spain's Costa del Sol, where police in 2005 broke up a 250 million-euro ($335 million) money- laundering scheme and arrested 41 people. His home, in the resort of Marbella, was closed off to prevent tampering with evidence, police said.
Moreno Godoy is also a resident of Marbella, and al-Ghazi is a resident of Lebanon, U.S. prosecutors said.
The case is: U.S. v. Al Kassar, 07-CR-354, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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