The Atlanta Journal and Constitution August 14, 2003
Missile sting's details revealed
Briton caught in joint operation
By Rebecca Carr, Eunice Moscoso
SOURCE: Cox Washington Bureau
Washington --- In a plot worthy of a spy novel, federal investigators charged a British arms dealer Wednesday with attempting to sell missiles to a government informant who posed as an Islamic terrorist seeking to shoot down an airliner.
Hemant Lakhani, 68, of London was arrested Tuesday at a hotel near Newark International Airport. The FBI and a joint terrorism task force said he had just completed the sale of a Russian SA-18 Igla, a surface-to-air missile capable of knocking out a commercial plane, to the informant, who is cooperating with the government.
Lakhani had planned to sell at least 50 more missiles and a ton of C-4 plastic explosive to the witness, who convinced him that he was representing a Somali terrorist organization sympathetic to Osama bin Laden, according to a criminal complaint filed in a New Jersey federal court.
Contrary to previous news reports, authorities said the witness was not a federal agent.
The actual missile the informant purchased was inoperable. It was provided to Lakhani by undercover Russian agents who were involved in the investigation, court documents said.
Lakhani was charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to a terrorist group and acting as an arms broker without a license. U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan D. Wigenton ordered Lakhani held without bail pending a custody hearing Monday. If convicted of both charges, he could face up to 25 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine.
The story behind the alleged missile sale spans from the United States to Russia over the course of two years. It involves a high degree of cooperation among U.S. agents, the Russian Federal Security Service --- the successor of the Soviet-era KGB spy agency --- and the British MI5 domestic intelligence agency.
'To hit the people'
The investigation began after Lakhani boasted to the informant that he could obtain weapons in St. Petersburg, Russia, court documents said. In December 2001, the informant, under the direction of the FBI, began to discuss obtaining anti-aircraft guns and missiles from Lakhani.
In more than 150 conversations the government recorded between Lakhani and the informant, the informant repeatedly told Lakhani the missiles were for a "jihad" and that the Somali terrorist group wanted to strike a plane and "want[ed] to hit the people over here," according to the court documents.
Law enforcement officials do not believe Lakhani is connected to a specific terrorist group. Rather, they said, his motive was profit.
However, in a taped conversation, Lakhani expressed admiration for bin Laden, telling the informant that bin Laden had "straightened them all out" and "did a good thing" by masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, according to the court documents.
On Sept. 17, 2002, Lakhani flew from London to New Jersey to meet with the government informant. As the two sat at a hotel overlooking the Newark airport, they discussed illegally importing the missile and using it to shoot down a commercial aircraft, according to the court documents.
Lakhani verified with the informant that the purpose of shooting down a plane was to cause the United States economic harm, the documents said. Lakhani allegedly told the informant to "make one explosion . . . to shake the economy."
Federal agents arrested two other men Tuesday for allegedly helping Lakhani facilitate the financial transaction, which included a $500,000 down payment from the informant for 50 missiles.
Yehuda Abraham, a 76-year-old jeweler in New York's diamond district, allegedly accepted a $30,000 down payment on behalf of Lakhani for the missiles, the government said. Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed of Malaysia came to the United States on Tuesday to collect the $500,000, authorities said. Both were charged with conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.
'These guys can do it'
The possibility of a terrorist organization such as al-Qaida using a shoulder-fired missile to destroy an airliner has been a concern expressed on Capitol Hill and among counterterrorism officials.
Surface-to-air missiles are readily available on the black market in war-riven countries like Afghanistan.
Glenn McGonnigle, CEO of VistaScape Security Systems and an expert on airport security, said the missiles are easy to use. "These things are light weight. They're portable. And it doesn't take a Navy SEAL . . . to go out and operate these things. A little bit of instruction and these guys can do it," he said.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) introduced legislation earlier this year calling for the federal government to equip commercial aircraft with anti-missile technology.
The Bush administration has not embraced the proposal, citing an estimated $10 billion price tag for outfitting the nation's 6,800 commercial airliners with the missile-fighting equipment.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), a supporter of Boxer's bill, sent a letter to President Bush on Wednesday demanding action on the legislation. "I am baffled by its go-slow-as-molasses approach to dealing with the shoulder-fired missile threat," Schumer said, referring to the administration.
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, said Wednesday on CBS' "The Early Show" that the technology is available to provide a defensive system "at a fairly reasonable cost and we have moved that program forward."
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Georgia Republican who is among the leaders in Congress on anti-terrorism issues, said he is open to the idea, although it would be costly.
"In the wake of this latest threat, we must assess and evaluate what other kinds of measures could further enhance security for airline travel," he said through his spokeswoman, Angie Lundberg.
Brian Roehrkasse, a spokesman for the federal Department of Homeland Security, said the administration has been "very aggressive," including working with international partners to stop weapons proliferation and securing airports.
The United States is in the process of examining potential missile defense technologies to determine if they are viable for use on commercial planes, he said.
Schumer and Boxer contend that at least 27 terrorist groups have shoulder-fired missiles. Last month, a missile was fired at a U.S. military plane landing at Baghdad International Airport. And in November, al-Qaida members tried unsuccessfully to shoot down an Israeli commercial airliner in Kenya.
The airline industry appears to be siding with the president.
"The threat of a shoulder-fired missile attack against a commercial aircraft is taken extremely seriously," said James C. May, president and CEO of the Air Transport Association. "Before embarking on the deployment of anti-missile defense systems, . . . the administration is prudently advocating careful study of the effectiveness of this untested technology and the exploration of alternative solutions."
Tad Hutcheson, a spokesman for AirTran Airways, which has its hub at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport, expressed similar concerns.
"I don't think the customers can take any more taxation. And the airlines can't pay for it," Hutcheson said.
John Kennedy, a spokesman for Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, declined to comment.
--- Staff writers Melanie Eversley and Mary Lou Pickel and the Associated Press contributed to this article.
GRAPHIC: Graphic: COUNTERING THE PORTABLE MISSILE
While airliners are safe from shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles when flying at cruising altitude (30,000 feet), they are vulnerable during takeoff and landing.
The threat
Shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles (SAMs)
These missiles are frequently called heat seeking missiles because they employ sensors that lock in on the target's infrared signature, often the engine.
Some different solutions
Commercial planes may be fitted with one or more defensive measures found on military cargo planes.
* Directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCMs)
Laser focuses infrared energy directly on the incoming missile; provides most effective defense against modern portable-SAM, but weight, cost, size and reliability are an issue.
* Infrared counter-measures (IRCMs)
These transmitters create fields of infrared energy to confuse shoulder-fired SAMs; only effective against older infrared guided missiles.
* Flares
White-hot flares shot from the plane attract and confuse older shoulder-fired SAMs, but not on the newer models; pose a fire hazard and may be too risky over urban areas.
Illustration of a community with a terrorist on top of a building firing a shoulder missile aimed at an airplane. The airplane is shown with solutions illustrated from above.
Sources: GlobalSecurity.org; The Electronic Warfare and Information Operations Association / Associate Press; Photo: Hemant Lakhani, 68, is driven by FBI agents to court Wednesday in Newark, New Jersey, for a hearing on charges of trying to sell surface-to-air missiles to a man posing as a terrorist. / JOHN O'BOYLE / Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger
© Copyright 2003, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
