iraq scandal simmers on

u.s. investigators due mid-month. new tapes tie kuchma to iran, libya arms deals

u.s. investigators due mid-month; new tapes tie kuchma to iran, libya arms deals

the united states will send a team of investigators to kyiv to look into charges that ukraine sold a kolchuga anti-aircraft radar system to iraq in 2000, u.s. ambassador carlos pascual announced oct. 2.

the announcement came two days after a strongly worded u.s. congressional document raised the possibility that almost all u.s. assistance to ukraine could be frozen if ukraine is found to have sold weapons to iraq in breach of un sanctions since sept. 11, 2001.

that document, the house of representatives foreign appropriations bill, was passed on sept. 19, four days before the u.s. state department made its first public accusations that president leonid kuchma personally approved the kolchuga sale to iraq via a jordanian intermediary. the state department said it had based its accusations on secret tape recordings made by mykola melnychenko, a former presidential bodyguard now in exile in the united states.

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