DONETSK, Ukraine, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. and British weapons experts have arrived in the Ukraine to investigate whether government officials sold an advanced air defense radar system to Iraq, the Itar-Tass news agency reported Monday.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Anatoliy Zlenko promised to offer government support to the experts, and described the mission as a technical one. The weapons experts will inspect the Topaz plant, which manufacturers the Kolchuga electronic reconnaissance systems.
In April, the "Financial Times" reported that Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma arranged a $100 million delivery of the sophisticated Kolchuga radar systems to Iraq. Mykola Melnychenko, a former Kuchma security guard, made the allegation to a federal grand jury in San Francisco.
Kuchma has denied the allegations. Kolchuga is a sophisticated passive radar system, according to the Web site of Ukraine's nation Institute for Strategic Studies.
"The technical tasks of this mission are clearly defined," Zlenko told Itar-Tass. "This is a mission that needs to fulfill its mandate and first of all, to ascertain once again that Ukraine is transparent and open, enabling this mission to fulfill its tasks."
From 1988 until 1995, the plant built about 50 air defense systems, before resuming production four years ago. Ukraine denies it has sold the Kolchuga system to Iraq and insists that it sold only three air defense systems to the Ethiopian government in 2000.
