Monday, March 4th 2002: The 'Arms for Bin Ladin' Deal, Ties in Romania - the 'Flying Dolphin' Ring
Sorin Ozon, Stefan Candea, Sorin Cehan
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The international media has uncovered
an incendiary subject in recent days: some of the arms shipped by Russian trafficker
Viktor Bout to various conflict areas came from Romania and Bulgaria. Bout is
currently considered the most significant arms trafficker to the conflict zones
in African countries and Afghanistan. The press reports have not offered any
other details, and it is not clear to what extent Romania or some Romanians
were involved in the arms trade to nations subject to the [arms] embargo. Evenimentul
Zilei has discovered the Romanian ties of the trafficker, suspected of having
supplied arms to Usama Bin Ladin's terrorists and al-Qa'ida. These are companies
established in this country by individuals who are on the list of international
organizations that monitor arms traffic. Recently, Evenimentul Zilei described
a similar situation: firms established in
Romania by individuals having ties to the top of the Sicilian Mafia, the Cosa
Nostra. Both cases prove the same thing, which is serious: while foreign investigators
and international organizations are making every effort to annihilate criminal
networks, those networks establish firms in Romania without any hindrance. Western
intelligence service sources told us that in the past month, since he became
a most wanted person, Bout has been seen in only two places: Moscow and Bucharest.
We would not have believed this
information if our investigation had not led to our finding concrete ties between
Bout and firms in Romania. The most important detail is the existence of Flying
Dolphin Romania SRL company, in Bucharest, which was established with $10,000
in 1998. According to data in the Commerce Register, the only shareholder and
administrator is Sheikh Abdullah Zayed Saqr al Nayhan from Dubai, the United
Arab Emirates [UAE]. The firm's headquarters is in an apartment in Bucharest,
at 45-47, Miron Costin Street, building B5, entrance B, apartment 24. Some Evenimentul
Zilei reporters went there, and learned that the owner of the apartment was
a pilot named Niculescu (until a month ago, when it was sold).
This is the building where Flying Dolphin Romania's headquarters is located.
Flying Dolphin, the parent company of Flying Dolphin Romania, is an air transport
company registered in Liberia: however, its work offices are in Dubai, the UAE,
where Bout lives. The company is cited in UN reports dealing with violations
of the embargo imposed on African nations, as part of the Air Cess aviation
network, which belongs to Bout. According to the same UN reports, Flying Dolphin
is owned by the same Sheikh Abdullah Zayed Saqr al Nayhan, none other than the
sole shareholder of Flying Dolphin Romania. He is described in the UN's reports
as close to Bout. He is not a nobody in the Emirates. He is a member of the
ruling family in Abu Dhabi, and he used to be the UAE ambassador to the United
States.
Transport for Bin Ladin's Taliban
According to international reports, his Flying Dolphin was involved in several arms shipments to African nations subject to the arms embargo. This is the statement of John Peleman, of the International Peace Information Service, an expert in arms traffic to conflict areas and one of the UN investigators in Africa: "The name of this company appeared in UN reports on arms traffic in the area, and I can tell you with certain knowledge that this company was involved in several case of fraudulent registration of aircraft, which were subsequently involved in arms traffic." The latest data gathered by Western investigators suggests it is very likely that Flying Dolphin may have shipped arms to Afghanistan. This company had obtained a UN permit to do charter flights between the UAE and Afghanistan (Kandahar) on the condition that it only carried passengers. According to reports in the UAE press, Flying Dolphin began these flights on 15 October 2000, their main motivation being humanitarian. Western investigators suspect that Bout used these flights to ship arms to the Taliban and to Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida terrorist network through the UAE company.
The International Press About Romanian Weapons
- According to a Reuters report, on 26 April 2001, the Cuban coast guard arrested three Americans of Cuban descent who were carrying Romanian-manufactured AK-47s. The three were planning to attack nightclubs in the Tropicana tourist resort. Cuban officials said the three were members of a Florida-based anti-Fidel Castro group.
- The Irish Independent daily on 9 July 2001 announced the discovery of an arms warehouse that belonged to Irish Republican Army (IRA) terrorists. Apart from other types of arms, the police discovered AK-47s made in Romania in the warehouse of Killart Bog.
- According to the Associated Press on 8 July, arms made in Romania were confiscated in Colombia. They were being shipped to guerillas hostile to the Bogota government.
- The Chicago Tribune on 23 December 2001 published material on Romanian weapons used in the Congo conflict. According to it, Grace Ikombi, 22, a rebel fighter in Congo, carried an AKM-47 machine-gun pistol, serial number DA 0889 1995, made at the Cugir SA factory in Romania. According to the newspaper report, Ikombi killed a man for the first time using his own weapon in August 2000. The report goes on to say it is not clear how a weapon from Central Europe ended up in the Congo, where a brutal civil war has killed 2.5 million people. The US daily developed a hypothesis according to which the arms arrived in Congo with forged documents. There are Romanian export documents, saying 20,000 AKM-47s were shipped from Cugir SA to Uganda in May 2000, through a broker in Slovakia. From Uganda, the Romanian arms ended up in the hands of Congolese rebels.
Schema of the Arms Traffic
- From Bout, investigated for arms traffic to Afghanistan, an associate with Flyingix,
- To Flyingix, registered in the UAE, associated with Santa Cruz Imperial,
- To Santa Cruz Imperial, registered in the UAE; Flying Dolphin is a member of Santa Cruz International;
- To Flying Dolphin and Flying Dolphin Romania; both owned by the same person: Sheikh Abdullah Zayed Saqr al Nayhan.
Proof That Flying Dolphin Has Not Been Idle in Romania
In 2000, Aerofina (a Romanian commercial company focusing on manufacturing aeronautics technology and subordinated to the Industry Ministry) requested a license from ANCESIAC [National Agency in Charge of Controlling Exports and Banning Chemical Weapons] to export aeronautics equipment in favor of Flying Dolphin. According to ANCESIAC, the license was denied. This means that there had been direct negotiations between Aerofina and Flying Dolphin.
The Commerce Register on Flying Dolphin Romania SRL
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania and Bucharest
2, Octavian Goga Boulevard,
sector 3, Bucharest, telephone:
401-3273407, 401-3273402; fax: 401-3273468.
Flying Dolphin Romania SRL
County: the municipality of Bucharest; locality: Bucharest, sector 1.
Registration number: J40/11570/1998
Firm status: functional
Fiscal code: 11229558
Sirues code: 403754353
Address: 45-47, Miron Costin Street, building B5, entrance B,
apartment 24
Last update with the Commerce Register: 24 July 2001
Declared object of activity: P 6220 occasional air shipments
Data about the shareholders:
- individuals:
1. Name: Sheikh Abdullah Zayed Saqr al Nayhan
Identity document: passport//29949/
United Arab Emirates/ 1 January
1998
Locality: Dubai
Citizenship: United Arab Emirates
Domicile: United Arab Emirates
Birthday: 12 December 1956
Birth place: Dubai, UAE
Address: PO Box 60315
Total contribution: 95 million lei, out of which, in dollars: $10,000
Total number of shares: 475
Percentage of profit and loss: 100 percent
He has no legal entities as associates.
Who Is Bout?
A Russian citizen, Bout, 34, (in the next photo) [not attached - very poor image] is the most important "death merchant" in Africa, as mentioned in two UN reports on violations of the arms embargo for Angola and Sierra Leone.
The Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow developed a list of arms merchants in the former Soviet Union: on that list, Bout is number one in illicit arms deals. That kind of business totals $8 billion per year. Born in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Bout graduated from the prestigious Military Foreign Languages Institute in Moscow. He worked for Soviet aviation, then he worked as a translator for the UN peacekeeping force in Angola in 1987, where he developed political and military ties. He created the Air Cess transport company in 1996. By 1997, his airplanes had already shipped troops, arms, and supplies to rebels in the Congo, who were fighting the government in Rwanda. Between 1997 and 1998 Air Cess shipped weapons to UNITA [National Union for the Total Independence of Angola] and the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone, violating the UN embargo. Bout currently lives in Sharjah, UAE, and denies any and all involvement in illegal arms trafficking.
"We Are Sure Bout Is Not in Russia"
The latest evidence on Bout's activity gathered by intelligence services indicates he is a suspect in supplying weapons to the Taliban in Afghanistan and to members of the al-Qa'ida terrorist network. Following the numerous accusations amassed against Bout, who is a Russian citizen, Moscow announced it will start an investigation to identify his links in the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] area. We must mention that Bout began shipping arms to conflict areas in 1995, and until 2000 he was able to work unhindered, shipping massive amounts of arms to African nations and receiving smuggled diamonds in exchange. His fleet of aircraft now includes 60 airplanes. At a time when Russian authorities insisted that Bout was not in Russia, he gave an interview to Radio Ekho Moskvy. The same evening, a spokesman for the INTERPOL [International Criminal Police Organization] office in Russia said, "We are sure Bout is not in Russia."