European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 12, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday april 12, 1991the stars and stripes Page 3arms Trade easier said than done by David Tarrant Brussels Bureau Brussels Belgium a it s fashionable for politicians to claim that the chief lesson gained from the persian Gulf War is to not sell weapons to dangerous or unstable countries. W but talk is cheap and the arms Export Trade is big business. Nato diplomats backed up by defense analysts expressed scepticism about the chances of putting up meaningful controls on the Multi billion Dollar arms Trade in the near future. At nato the . Delegation has quietly suggested setting up a forum where the 16 Alliance nations could discuss a common policy on defense exports to third world and other countries outside the Alliance sources said. But the plan which Hitchhiker on a 1990 . Initiative to coordinate Alliance defense Trade nowhere the nato in the Wakele one in a series Brrning Iraq Iraq built its military might with the help of willing suppliers in the West and East. Here is a breakdown of Saddam Hussein a leading arms dealers and some of the weapons they provided. User 1,500 t-62 tanks a. France 1,000 t-72 tanks 1,500 Bmp-1, Bmp-2. A. Infantry fighting vehicles v 36 scud b launchers scud missiles. A towed and self propelled artillery pieces eight Tu-22 bombers four Tu-16 bombers. 90 m1g-23s, 25 Mig-25s 30 Mig-29 Brazil multiple rocket launchers South armoured cars Africa scout cars Austria about 200 155mm towed howitzers China at least 85 155mm self propelled guns Roland Sam missile systems armoured personnel carriers hot and Milan anti tank missiles f-1eq planes Type 59 and Type 60 tanks armoured personnel carriers 30 j-6 fighter ground attack planes / 40 j-7 fighters 100 <35 155mm towed howitzer systems will probably go sources said. A the problem is that Only two nations the United states and Germany Are will ing to push this idea of a harmonized nato Export control policy a said one source familiar with the plan. A most other countries in these discussions. Were concerned that it was just too politically  since the Gulf crisis began last August Many americans and europeans have spoken out on the need for governments to address the problem of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Last month for example the White House announced new regulations aimed at extending Export controls to prevent the spread of chemical and biological weapons. X x a a a x a. A a a but there is less agreement on How to control the Export of conventional weapons. A Quot x a in the United states president Bush spoke strongly after the War against allowing the Middle East to become in sources Jane s defence weekly the International Institute for strategic studies aps amps gulped in an arms race. But the White House is asking Congress to allow it to sell $ in billion Worth of f-16 fighters Patriot anti missile systems my tanks and multiple rocket launchers to five Middle East allies. A. A -. Quot x the Bush administration announced that it wanted the Export import Bank to underwrite about $1 billion in commercial arms sales with loan guarantees for nato. Countries and other . Allies the arms Are supposed to be bought by Japan nato countries Israel and Australia but Congress is worried that the arms might eventually end up in third world nations. X a a we be stopped arming Iraq and now we want to Arm the others in the Region a said Eberhard Rhein head of the european Community directorate responsible for Mediterranean near East and Middle East affairs Quot we need an agreement to limit the Supply of arms to the Region a Rhein said at a conference sponsored by the Center for european political studies in Brussels. Some leaders at the european Community which is made up of 12 Western european nations want to set up a mechanism for monitoring arms sales of the member nations. But the dec charter strictly limits what the organization can do on Security matters. Meanwhile Many third world nations dazzled by the devastating effect of the Allied coalitions High technology weapons arc  eager buyers. That desire was illustrated recently by Pakistan s prime minister Mian. Nawaz Sharif who said Iraq s overwhelming defeat demonstrated the need to invest in modern weaponry. A the military aspect of the Gulf War has made the fact Clear that to undermine the science technology research and modern advances in defense is disastrous Quot he said. A the Challenge of the technology is a per manent  x. The surge in third world interest comes at a time when Western defense industries Are hurting because of detente cutbacks. The Effort to control arms sales May run against the desire to exploit new markets. A a. X a a a a a a nato a chief or tip rates by consensus is plagued by these and other conflicting motivations Over the proposal for establishing a Fortuin to discuss and coordinate its he member nations anus Trade policies toward the Middle East and other potentially unstable regions of the world. Quot the French Are not interested in giving nato any new and Tnie resting things to do Quot said one nato source. But the  Industry is also highly dependent on exports which makes it difficult for the French to let. Anyone else have an opinion Over where they should sell arms sources said x a French source who requested anonymity said the problem with a nato arms control forum is that it would not include such major arms exporters As China and the soviet Union. X Quot its a very Complex Issue and the sue Cess of arms control depends on involving All the producers of weapons a the source. Said v a a a a a a a. A. Britain has also expressed concern Over whether nato is the proper forum Lor such discussions. Quot i think that pos Gulf some coordination might be right and  a British source -speak-.-, ing on condition of anonymity.,-�?obut should it be the nato should it be the a u.n.?&Quot nevertheless such a forum remains one of the options set Forth in a study by an and Hoe nato group Lor an april 25 meeting in Brussels of  conference of National armaments directors which consists of chief arms buyers from  nato countries. The report is Likely to be referred to nato ambassadors. T lie ambassadors could say a a a yes this sounds Good and flesh out the options some More. They May decide to set up a High level commit teen to report to the ambassadors one nato source said. / Quot but nato works on a consensus basis. And one of them the ambassadors May just say  contributing to thai report the new York times German lawmakers working to to by de Reavis. Staff write German lawmakers have moved rapidly to control exports in the Wake of allegations that some of the country a companies sold Saddam Hussein the knowhow to build chemical weapons. A new Law requires government approval for the Export of certain goods to 54 countries and raises the minimum sentence for offenders from one to two years without a Chance for probation a spokesman for the German ministry of economics said f in addition the ruling coalition Hopes to pass a Law allowing customs authorities to open the mail and tap the telephones of companies or individuals believed to be engaged in  trading x a a it a not a Law yet but we would Welcome it a said Karl Heinz Matthias the chief of the customs criminal investigation division in Cologne. Customs officials suspected 170 companies of circumventing German Export Laws to engage in the illegal Transfer of technological know How to Iraq said Joachim Badelt and Arend Wellmann political scientists at the Berghof Institute a think tank at the free University of Berlin. A the new Law controls the Export of goods that could be used exclusively or in part for the production modernization or servicing of weapons or munitions. Official statistics show that Iraq spent $625 million in purchasing so called dual usage products from Germany Between 1982 and 1986, Badelt said. A these products Are arms and munitions components that can pass customs scrutiny As having some peaceful usage a he said. A for example a Poison Gas factory does not differ much in its components from a full fledged fertilizer five German companies have drawn the particular interest of investigators. Badelt said they Are Karl Kolb a Mph amp co. In Dreilich near Frankfurt its Branch Pilot Plant engineering amp equipment in Dreilich . Water engineering trading a Mph in Hamburg Preus Sag a and Schwender co., both in nor Rhein westfalen. Twelve employees of these companies Are facing charges of illegally exporting  technology to Iraq said George Nauth a spokesman for the prosecutors office in Darmstadt. The latest company to come under suspicion is the mighty Daimler Benz concern in Stuttgart. The company is suspected of delivering dual usage transports to the Middle East vehicles that could be used either for transporting bulldozers or tanks. According to the news Magazine Der Spiegel prosecutors suspect that a Daimler partner rebuilt the transports trailers to serve As launching pads for iraqis scud missiles which Sadr dam used to terrorize Israel and saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. V. Johannes Hacker a spokesman for the prosecutor s office in Stuttgart said the Daimler investigation continues but it looks As if press reports were exaggerated. A we know that Daimler stopped doing business directly with Iraq some time ago but whether or not it continued illegally through subsidiary companies or other companies has yet to be proven Quot Hacker said. New . Rules further limit sales of dual use items by Jane Howells Tierney Washington Bureau Washington a recent . Government controls on exports that could be used to produce chemical and biological weapons represent one recent Effort to prevent the spread of arms to Iraq and other countries. The regulations part of the enhanced proliferation controls initiative launched in december require . Export licenses for a variety of items that can be used to produce missiles and chemical and biological weapons. A the new regulations will enhance our ability to head off these dangers so that in the future we will not be forced to confront them militarily As we have in Iraq a a White Housch statement said. A at the same time the new regulations. Will not unfairly restrict legitimate  the unprecedented regulations cover All dual use equipment which can have either civilian or military applications. They also expand the number of chemicals from 11 to 50 that have the potential for use in weapons manufacturing. A the expanded . Export controls apply to equipment chemicals and whole plants that can be used to manufacture chemical or biological weapons As Well As to activities of .exporters or citizens when they know or Are informed that their efforts will  foreign missile tar chemical or biological weapon program Quot the White House statement said