Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=10/1/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=U-S-Ukraine-Arms (L-Only)

NUMBER=2-294738

BYLINE=David Gollust

DATELINE=State Department

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The State Department says the government of Ukraine has agreed to admit U-S experts for a joint investigation of alleged Ukrainian radar sales to Iraq in violation of U-N sanctions. The Bush administration last month suspended U-S aid to Ukraine after receiving audio tapes in which it said Ukraine's President, Leonid Kuchma, is overheard approving the sale. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

TEXT: Officials here say the joint inquiry is unlikely to alter the U-S conviction that President Kuchma did approve the radar sales. But they say the way the probe is conducted could help improve the climate of U-S-Ukrainian relations which have been soured by the radar sales affair.

The Bush administration last month suspended a 55-million dollar aid program to Ukraine and announced a review of the bilateral relationship. This came after U-S officials said they had authenticated an audio tape of President Kuchma from July of 2000 - provided by an opponent of the Kuchma government - in which the president authorized the illicit 100-million-dollar radar sale.

The agreement for an investigation of the affair came Tuesday during a visit to Kiev by a U-S delegation headed by U-S Assistant Secretary of State Beth Jones.

Ukrainian defense officials said a team of U-S experts will arrive in Ukraine shortly for a joint probe to be completed by the middle of this month. They said the Americans would get unfettered access to sites of interest including the plant where the advanced "Kolchuga" radar system is made.

The Ukrainian government has denied providing weapons systems or technology to Iraq in violation of U-N sanctions.

Briefing reporters here, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher reiterated the U-S view that the Kuchma tape is authentic.

But he said the joint investigation will be worthwhile in determining if Iraq has taken delivery of the radars, and whether Kiev authorities are now committed to stopping such sales:

///Boucher actuality///

It matters to us whether Iraq was successful in trying to procure this kind of military equipment. That, first and foremost is something we want to know, and we want to know what happened and how it happened. In terms of our review, obviously we believe the tape to be authentic and we know what we've seen on the tape. But what also matters to us is the degree of cooperation we get, the degree of transparency we get, and the degree of commitment we get to avoiding a repetition.

///end act///

The "Kolchuga" system, a so-called "passive" radar, is said to be capable of detecting approaching aircraft at a range of 700 kilometers without sending out tell-tale signals to the pilots.

It would be of great use to Iraq, whose current, conventional radars are easily located and vulnerable to attack from U-S and British planes enforcing the "no-fly zones" in the northern and southern parts of the country.

The tape implicating President Kuchma in the Iraq deal was part of hundreds of hours of secretly-recorded conversations provided to U-S officials by a former Ukrainian presidential security guard, Mykola Melnychenko, now an anti-Kuchma campaigner living in the United States.

The radar episode has fueled domestic protests against the Kuchma government and undercut U-S relations with Ukraine, which in recent years has been the third-largest recipient of U-S foreign aid behind Israel and Egypt. (Signed)

NEB/DAG/PT