2008 Ago 01 / Gunning for the gunrunners: the arrest of three men who are allegedly the world's most notorious arms dealers ...

Autor                           : Blanche, Ed
Medio                           : The Middle East
Fuente                          : 
Enlace                          : http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-183423097.html
Título                          :  Gunning for the gunrunners
Fecha de publicación            : August 1, 2008
Materia                         : Colombia, Derechos Humanos
Colección / Serie               :
Zona geográfica                 : Colombia, Israel, Rusia, Moscow, Madrid, Bangkok
Fecha de los hechos             : 1980`s 
Entidades y personas mencionadas: Yair Gal Klein, Viktor Bout, Monzer Al Kassar, Interpol,

Gunning for the gunrunners: 

the arrest of three men who are allegedly the world's most notorious arms dealers may shed some light on their murky demi-monde in the Middle East.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)(Yair Gal Klein, Viktor Bout, Monzer Al Kassar)

THREE MEN--an Israeli, a Russian and a Syrian--are behind bars in Moscow, Madrid and Bangkok. All are known as leading figures in the murky world of arms trafficking. All face judicial proceedings, including extradition, that could lift the veil on their deadly business and its links to the Middle East and the Latin American narcotics trade.

The investigations into the activities of these three men could illuminate the dark relationship between many intelligence communities and the criminal syndicates that run the arms-for-drugs trade, and how Israel engages in covert operations in Latin America and elsewhere. These illegal, corrupt and sometimes bloody activities are usually conducted in concert with the Americans, but often the Israelis are just in it for themselves and the hefty profits to be reaped.

To what extent any of that will happen remains to be seen, but the reasons these men are in prison have a bizarre common link--Colombia, the cocaine capital of the world. Central and South America, plagued by revolutionary groups, state-run death squads and drug cartels, has for decades been the high-paying stamping ground of arms dealers, mercenaries and intelligence services--particularly the Israelis.

The Israeli among the trio languishing behind bars is Yair Gal Klein, like the others, a hardened veteran of the international arms trade and the shadowy world of the soldier of fortune, where the line between legal and illegal is usually a fine one, frequently crossed. Klein was detained at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport on 27 August 2007, on an Interpol warrant when he attempted to board a flight for Tel Aviv …