Seized Nicaraguan missiles raise alarm
By Rowan Scarborough
The Washington Times
Published January 27, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Nicaraguan police, with U.S. assistance in a sting
operation, thwarted black marketeers trying to sell SA-7
shoulder-fired missiles capable of downing commercial aircraft earlier
this month, raising fears that some missiles already have been sold to
terrorists, The Washington Times has learned.
U.S. officials think the missiles are being provided by elements
of the Nicaraguan military. One official said intelligence reports
suggest Nicaraguan army elements are keeping a secret stash of SA-7s
not inventoried by international inspectors.
The sellers in the sting demanded several hundred thousand dollars
for each missile, said an administration official who discussed the
operation on the condition of anonymity. It is not known if the black
marketeers had been successful in selling other SA-7s before they were
arrested.
"This is a very, very serious threat," said the U.S. official.
"This is what makes me stay up at night. Civilian aviation is at
stake."
The official said one Soviet-made SA-7 was confiscated at an air
conditioning repair shop, the site of the sting in Managua, Nicaragua,
where three Nicaraguans tried to sell the missile and offered more to
undercover Nicaraguan police.
"This shows that such missiles can be bought on the open market,
and it highlights the need for strong international cooperation to get
rid of them," a second official said in a government statement issued
to The Times.
The sting has sounded alarm bells through the Bush administration
for a number of reasons. The arrested men thought they were selling
missiles to terrorists in Colombia and were willing to sell to Islamic
terrorists, the official said. Also, Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld in November had won what he believed was a firm agreement
from Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos to destroy about 1,000
remaining SA-7s. Some in the Bush administration now suspect the
military is double-crossing Mr. Bolanos.
Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda and other terrorist groups are known to
be seeking portable missiles capable of bringing down a commercial
airliner. The 20-pound SA-7 has a range up to 15,000 feet. In the
wrong hands, a missile could down an airliner on its airport takeoff
or approach.
In November 2002, terrorists fired two SA-7 missiles at an Israeli
commercial airliner in Kenya, but missed. Israel equips some of its
jetliners with missile warning receivers. Pilots can dispense flares
to try to draw the heat-seeking missile off target.
But the RAND Corp., in a study released this week, said the cost
of protecting the country's 6,800 airliners is prohibitive. It would
cost $11 billion to buy and install the equipment and over $2 billion
a year to maintain what is still an unproven technology.
The Department of Homeland Security has warned law-enforcement
agencies to be on the lookout for smuggled SA-7s, the world's most
prevalent shoulder-fired missile.
When contacted yesterday, the Pentagon's top Latin American expert
declined to discuss details of the sting. Roger Pardo-Maurer, deputy
assistant defense secretary for the Western Hemisphere, did say, "If
this is what it appears to be, it calls into question not only the
professionalism and integrity of the Nicaraguan armed forces, but it
really calls into question their sanity.
"Playing with shoulder-fired missiles is one of the most dangerous
things out there and is at the top of concerns by the Department of
Defense. We're taking a very hard eye to look into this situation," he
said.
Washington has pressed Managua for some time to get rid of all its
SA-7s. The Soviet Union supplied thousands of the missiles to the
left-wing Sandinistas in the 1980s as they battled the U.S.-backed
contras.
The ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) eventually
agreed to elections in 1990. It lost the presidency to the Liberal
Constitutional Party (PLC), now represented by Mr. Bolanos.
The government has demolished all but 1,000 SA-7s. The
Organization of American States (OAS) has taken an inventory and
recorded serial numbers on the remainder.
But in recent months, the Sandinista party has gained more power
within government, despite the PLC having a majority of seats in the
legislature. Managua was supposed to resume destroying SA-7s in
batches of 300.
Asked about SA-7 destruction at a joint Nov. 12 press conference
in Managua, Mr. Rumsfeld said, "As the president will respond I'm
sure, the president and the country of Nicaragua have a plan. It's
been well known and well understood and as I understand it, it is on
plan."
Said Mr. Bolanos, "The destruction of the Sam 7s is the will of
Nicaragua. It is the total sovereign will of Nicaragua and the
president who is the supreme chief of the armed forces. It is in
Nicaragua's best interest to do so that is why we have done so."
But days later, the legislature immediately ruled that only it
could authorize the army to destroy weapons.
In the Jan. 11 sting, Nicaraguan police recovered one SA-7 whose
serial number did not match any of those inventoried by the OAS, said
the Bush administration official.
This official said there are intelligence reports that one or more
senior Nicaraguan army officers may be maintaining a secret cache of
80 or more SA-7s for black market sale.
On the day of the sting, the army dispatched a senior officer to
the scene who tried to take possession of the seized SA-7, said the
U.S. official. But the police refused. The source said the U.S. helped
in the sting.
The people selling the missile promised as many as a dozen. The
U.S. believes they are middlemen representing elements within the
military.
"We had always suspected they had a secret stash not in
inventory," the official said. "They assured us 'No.' ... We had
worked very hard to develop a relationship with the Nicaraguan army.
That trust is very much in jeopardy right now. The Sandinista party
doesn't want these missiles destroyed."
The official said Sandinista elements with the military "are
corrupt and are selling weapons in the region."
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