Hopes up for Israeli arms dealer's release

JERUSALEM, July 1 (UPI) -- A meeting between Israel's president and his Kazakh counterpart may assist in securing the release of an Israeli weapons dealer, Israeli defense sources said.

Israeli President Shimon Peres met with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev Tuesday as a possible prelude to the release of Boris Sheinkman, an Israeli weapons agent arrested more than three months ago, Maariv reported Wednesday.

"The release of the representative of Israel's military industries appears to be closer than ever," the newspaper quoted Israeli defense sources as saying.

Sheinkman represented four Israeli enterprises in Kazakhstan. He was detained in March following an alleged disagreement that erupted between the Kazakh intelligence service and the country's Defense Ministry, the newspaper said. Sheinkman attempted to broker a multimillion-dollar deal on behalf of the Israeli company Soltam, Maariv said.

The Kazakh government claimed the deal fell through after a fault was discovered in a cannon battery supplied by Soltam. It also alleged Sheinkman attempted to bribe Kazakh government officials to move the deal forward, the newspaper said. The allegations were rejected by those close to Sheinkman.

Sheinkman has since been held in a Kazakh secret service prison, the newspaper said. The Kazakhstan government halted the contract with Soltam, worth an estimated $157 million.