Defying sanctions,China tried to sell Gaddafi arms: Rebels

Chinese firms apparently suggested that arms be delivered through third countries.

ANNE BARNARD

In the final weeks of Col Muammar Gaddafis battle with Libyan rebels,Chinese state companies offered to sell his government large stockpiles of weapons and ammunition in apparent violation of United Nations sanctions,officials of Libyas transitional government said Sunday. They cited Gaddafi government documents found by a Canadian journalist,which the officials said were authentic.

The documents,including a memo from Libyan security officials detailing a shopping trip to Beijing on July 16,appear to show that state-controlled Chinese arms companies offered to sell $200 million worth of rocket launchers,antitank missiles,portable surface-to-air missiles designed to bring down aircraft,and other weapons and munitions. The documents,in Arabic,were posted Sunday on the website of The Globe and Mail,a Toronto newspaper.

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The Chinese firms apparently suggested that the arms be delivered through third countries like Algeria or South Africa. Like China,those countries opposed the UN authorisation of NATO military action against Gaddafi forces in Libya,but said they supported arms embargo imposed by an earlier UN resolution.

A rebel military spokesman,Abdulrahman Busin,said the transitional government would seek accountability through international channels. Busin said that any country that had violated the sanctions would have poor prospects for business with Libya,an oil-rich country.

We have hard evidence of deals going on between China and Gaddafi,and we have all the documents to prove it, he said,adding that the rebels have other evidence,including documents and weapons found on the battlefield,showing that arms were supplied illegally to Gaddafis forces by numerous other governments or companies. I can think of at least 10 off the top of my head, he said.

Graeme Smith,a reporter for The Globe and Mail,said the documents were found by him in the trash in the Bab Akkarah neighbourhood,where many Gaddafi officials lived. They were on green letterhead of a government procurement department.