Raman Yakauleuski: Lukashenka delivered arms to Chechnya and delivers to Venezuela

Experts share concerns of the US Congress over Belarus’ weapon deliveries to terrorists.

Nobody can estimate the volumes of Belarus’ weapon deliveries to the problem countries, including Sudan, Iran, and Venezuela. The US Congress expressed its concern over the issue and is going to consider the Belarus Arms Transfers Accountability Act of 2009. The congressmen are to examine Minsk’s military contacts with “sponsors of terrorism and states that do not fully cooperate with the United States in its anti-terrorism efforts”, Radio Svaboda reports.

In 1995, during the war in former Yugoslavia, a ship carrying small weapons and ammunition going to the operations zone was detained in the Adriatic Sea. The UN banned arms deliveries to the conflicting parties, NATO forces were checking every suspicions transport. According to the documents, the weapons were bought by dealers, but the source of the deliveries was established. It was Belarus.

“It’s interesting how Alyaksandr Lukashenka explained that fact: he said we had sold on a legal basis, but we didn’t care responsibility for resales of the arms. That’s how it was,” observer Raman Yakauleuski reminds.

The US Congress gives these data: Belarus exported arms valued at $1,000,000,000 between 1999 and 2006, making it the eleventh largest exporter of arms in the world.

The Congress is to direct the Secretary of State to submit to Congress an annual report on the “scale and modalities of exports of weapons and related services by the Government of Belarus and Belarusian enterprises, including revenues flows, and the potential role of the government and enterprise of the Russian Federation in such exports and revenues”.

The Swedish International Peace Research Institute calculated that Belarus earned $1.5 billion by arms sales in 1997–2001. Belarus sold weapons to Iran, Peru, Vietnam, Uganda, Libya, China, and India. Official Belarusian sources also include Côte d'Ivoire, Algeria, and Sudan in this list. Belarus claims it stopped weaposn deliveries to Sudan as the civil war broke out in the early 2000s, but independnet observers do not believe these statemnts. Acofridng to some infroamtion, Belarus lost two big air carriers near the Horn of Africa. Activitu of Belarusian dealers in this diostrcict causes serious suspisions.

The US Congress is most concerned over the fact that the weapons Belarus sells to Iran and Sudan may be used by terrorists, and that Minsk can sell Iran Russian S-300 air defense missiles and thus strengthen the defense capability of the country with supplies of jets and aircraft engines.

Observer Raman Yakauleuski reminds about links between the Belarusian and Russian leadership relating to underground trade in arms since the time of the wars in Chechnya. At first, Belarus was involved in small weapon sales to Libya, but later these weapons were found at Chechen rebels:

“Nobody has refuted me yet. This information was not denied by Zakaev, a Chechen emissary in West whom I met in Strasbourg,” Raman Yakauleuski says.

At the time, General Sergei Ivanov headed the Russian Security Council and Viktar Sheiman was the head of the Belarusian Security Council. Sheiman was later put on the list of restricted to visit Europe as he is probably involved in organization political disappearances. Viktar Sheiman is now the head of a special commission on Belarusian-Venezuelan cooperation. Raman Yakauleuski thinks the current situation in Venezuela must attract the US Congress’s attention:

“President Chavez says Venezuela is almost a war with Colombia, so the country is taking up arms. by the way, when a base of local rebels was taken over, information on arms deal contract through Venezuela was found on an computer. Viktar Sheiman was mentioned in the documents.

Raman Yakauleuski notes that routes of foreign trips of Leanid Maltsau, the head of the Ministry of Defense for the last 10 years, coincide with the countries mentioned in the list of the US Congress: Sudan, Iran, the problem countries of the Near East. Maltsau didn’t visit only Libya, but new minister of defense Yury Zhadobin has already paid a visit there. Observers note that weapons and components for military equipment to African countries at war are carried out through Libya.

Observers note: Belarus has preserved and even estimated its potential as a repair depot for former Soviet military equipment, namely tanks and aircrafts. It’s not excluded that the equipment is meant not only for the countries, the UN permit to trade with.