European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 29, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                An afghan guerrilla Aims a stinger missile during an offensive against government and soviet forces in 1988. Deadly stinger a Black Market favorite by Charles j. Hanley the associated press he High roller from Russia chromed from Casino to club to Call girl Soiree drinking in the High life of London. Then Ruslan Outsie got Down to business on special instructions from home., and ended up rolled into a carpet and stuffed in a cardboard Box three bullets in his head. Outsie was one of the latest to fail in the quest for the stinger. Tor the White House the  is a rooftop defense against terrorist air attack. To a guerrilla the stinger is the equalize that lets him stand up to an air Force. To a weapons dealer it s a top of the line Prie. In a time of dirty Little wars fought by desperate Little armies this , hand carried shoulder fired anti aircraft missile Heads the shopping lists of warlords worldwide. A deadly enough threat in a guerrilla conflict it would become a Nightmare weapon if drug cartels or terrorists succeed in buying stingers and turn commercial air lanes into free fire zones. Over the past 13 years More than 50,000 of the 4-foot-plus missiles have been produced for the . Armed forces and 16 other governments. They keep them under tight Security but hundreds of other stingers shipped by the Cia to anti communist rebels in Afghanistan and Angola Are believed to be feeding a multimillion Dollar Black Market. The Cia is trying to buy Back the afghan missiles. Apparently it is being outbid the weapons Are believed already deployed in at least five of the world s Small wars and May have brought Down aircraft in each. Stingers May lie in wait in Somalia too. Combative militia Leader Mohamed Farrah aided is believed to have gotten his hands on some of the missiles . Military officials say. The stinger s Appeal is  missile is a hit to kill missile. Stinger specs specifications of the stinger anti aircraft missile models fim 92bandfim-92c missile length 4 feet 11 inches missile diameter 3 inches missile weight 22 pounds launcher weight 1 2 v pounds guidance infrared and ultraviolet homing warhead 62 pounds High explosive fragmentation maximum effective Range More than 2v Miles maximum Altitude 12,350 feet. The associated press we Are extraordinarily accurate said Bob Merritt a marketing executive with Hughes missile systems the stinger s manufacturer. The stinger Sells legitimately for around $30,000. But afghans have been getting More than $200,000 per stinger in Pakistan s arms markets says the pakistani press. The Cia was offering $68,000 a missile at last report although that buyback Price is believed to be rising. Thej22-Pound missile and 12-Pound shoulder launcher Are loaded with expensive technology. The current Model which has an effective Range of 3 Miles combines heat seeking guidance zeroing in on aircraft engines with ultraviolet detection that spots an object blocking the sky. Together they Tell the missile it is tracking an aircraft not a diversionary flare or similar countermeasure. . Army soldiers get More than 100 hours training on the stinger. But even without the full dress orientation Afghanistan s islamic guerrillas managed to shoot Down scores of soviet helicopters and other aircraft in the 1980s. The missile s impressive performance attracted a lineup of customers from big time crime and Small time War making. In four . Investigations the past 3vi years Federal agents Short circuited stinger Hunts mounted by agents of the Medellin drug Cartel Iran the Irish Republican army and croatian. Secessionists. Authorities in Italy broke up another ring trying to get the missiles to Croatia. And last year Spanish police said they blocked an iranian arms procurer s efforts to round up stingers. Despite such successes stingers Are spreading. As far Back As 1988, . Officials reported the Arab state of Qatar had bought the missiles on the Black Market. More recently in the former soviet Republic of Tajikistan last May islamic rebels Allied with the afghans shot Down an Su-25 fighter bomber with a stinger the russian Media reported. In Bosnia and Herzegovina a preliminary investigation blamed a stinger for last year s shoo Down of an italian . Supply plane. Some dispute this but a general in Bosnia s Muslim led army told a reporter last year that Bosnia had obtained stingers. Potential sources Are proliferating. Under . License stingers Are now also made in Germany and Switzerland. The russian military adept at copying  technology is producing near stingers of its own. And authorized recipients might leak weapons to others. Two years ago saudi Arabia was reported to have pushed a plan for Washington to Supply Iraq s kurdish rebels with stingers. The Bush administration was said to have walked. But the saudis have their own . Supplied stingers. What s to Stop them from passing them on asked Christopher Foss a missile specialist for Jane s defense publications in London. Unless you go there once a year and do a spot Check you Don t know. And i Don t know what the americans could do about  closer look missile seekers come from around the world the portable stinger 3 Range accuracy and Power make it an appealing military weapon. But for Ruslan Outsie its attraction Lay in the role it could play in politics the intricate alliances of the former soviet Union. Outsie 38, was a Leader in the movement to make the Chechnya Oil Region in Southern Russia an Independent state. He went to London a year ago to arrange for banknotes Stamps and other trappings of nationhood Scotland Yard investigators said. He relished his duty As the Well financed envoy of an Oil fiefdom. He paid $1.1 million Cash for example for a Baker Street Penthouse spread huge tips around posh restaurants frequented London s gambling rooms and often hosted with his 20-year-old brother several prostitutes for a night at his richly furnished Flat. Outsie s fatal mistake was in his Choice of translator an armenian named Gagic Ter Ogannisyan. Later after his murder the chechen leadership would say Only that Outsie had been acting on special  but the translator Learned what the special assignment was to buy hundreds of Black Market stingers. He tipped off fellow armenians. Investigators said Armenia s secret service apparently determined the stingers were bound for the chechen fellow muslims in Azerbaijan for use against Armenia s aircraft in the War Between those two former soviet republics. The translator and an armenian gunman were ordered to Block the Deal by assassinating Outsie investigators said. The Outsie Brothers were shot in february but the armenians bungled the disposal of the bodies and were discovered. The gunman confessed told detectives about the stinger connection then hanged himself in jail. Ter Ogannisyan was convicted of murder in october and sentenced to life in prison. Who was Selling the stingers we were told they were dealing with someone on the stingers said detective inspector Julian Headon. But we Don t know with whom.". The separatists were just one of several parties out to illegally buy stinger missiles. In four recent cases . Undercover agents broke up attempts by these groups Irish Republican army three irishmen were convicted in Florida in 1990 of trying to. Buy a stinger for the Ira to use against British forces in Northern Ireland. Caught in a customs undercover operation. Sentenced to four year prison terms. Iran an american and a Canadian pleaded guilty in 1990 in new York in a scheme to sell stingers to Iran. They intended somehow to get them from israeli stocks. A customs undercover operation stopped the plan in its Early stages. The american was sentenced to time already served and the Canadian to Community service and probation. Medellin Cartel one colombian pleaded guilty and another was convicted in connection with an attempt in 1990 in Florida to buy 120 stingers and Export them to their Homeland. They claimed links to the Medellin drug Cartel. Fri undercover operation. Sentenced to four and five year prison terms. Croatians a Chicago area gun dealer and three croatians were arrested in Florida in 1991 in an alleged scheme to buy stingers for the secessionist former yugoslav Republic of Croatia. Customs undercover operation. Trial set for december. Tha associated press 20 the stars and stripes monday november 29, 7993