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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Sladek who wrote (21174)	10/5/2003 10:49:54 AM
From: John Sladek	Respond to of 21614

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [of France] Spokesperson (Paris, April 16, 2003) ...Q - Do you have any comments on the article in Newsweek reporting that US troops in Iraq have discovered Franco-German missiles? Like several other western states, including the US by the way, France exported weapons to Iraq in the 1970s and 1980s: Roland 1 missiles and firing systems in 1980-81, Roland 2 missiles and firing systems in 1983-86. All deliveries, including spare parts, were broken off in the summer of 1990. France has strictly observed the embargo on weapons since then. We confirm in particular that there was no export of Roland missiles or parts to Iraq after 1990. The marking cited by Newsweek (05/11 KND 2002) does not correspond to markings used by the French MBDA company on these missiles. Roland 1 and 2 went out of production in 1988 and 1993 respectively. So it's impossible for a Roland 2 to have been manufactured in 2002. With that stated, the Iraqis did have significant quantities of parts and could have cannibalized firing units and put new markings on them. So it's possible the Roland missiles are still operational. Need I add that we gave the US authorities full information about our exports prior to 1991 in preparation for the Gulf War in which France took part. As for the allegation about the discovery of a burnt-out Roland firing unit, two things should be borne in mind: - one, no Roland 3 missile or firing unit was ever exported to Iraq. There have been very few exports of this type of missile and those that were exported were coupled with a strict clause barring re-export. - also, to my knowledge, the Roland 2 and Roland 3 firing units are practically identical, differing only in software. Being able to distinguish a burnt-out unit is quite a feat, and we would like to check it. In general if the US authorities have elements leading them to questions about possible embargo violations by French persons or companies, we would like to be informed so as to make the necessary checks and where necessary punish such violations. But at this stage the insinuations in the article you referred definitely don't seem to be based on reliable indicators. france.diplomatie.fr