WASHINGTON, 24 March 2003 — The United States yesterday complained angrily that Russia has not adequately dealt with its concerns about arms sales to Iraq by Russian firms which it said threatened the safety of US, British and Australian troops now advancing on Baghdad.
The State Department said it had repeatedly brought sales of “militarily sensitive equipment” to Iraq to the attention of senior officials in Moscow, including in the days leading up to the current conflict, but had not yet received a satisfactory response.
“Such equipment in the hands if the Iraqi military may pose a direct threat to US and coalition armed forces,” said Brenda Greenberg, a department spokeswoman.
“We regard this as a very serious matter,” she said. “We thus have raised this issue with the Russian government a number of times, including at senior levels and particularly over the past two weeks.
“Their response so far has not been satisfactory,” Greenberg said. “We hope that the responsible Russian agencies will take our concerns seriously.” She declined to comment furtherr. However, the Washington Post reported earlier that US officials were deeply concerned by evidence that three Russian firms were selling weapons and sophisticated electronic military equipment to Iraq in violation of UN sanctions.
