Tel Aviv, Israel, June 22, --
Israeli police have launched an investigation into alleged illegal
Israeli military aid to the Kurds in Kurdistan (northern Iraq),
Yediot Ahronot daily reported Thursday.
According to the allegations, leading Israeli companies have sold
electronic fences, communications equipment, guard dogs,
watchtowers, motorcycles and tractors to Kurds for hundreds of
millions of dollars in the last two years without approval from the
defence ministry.
Veterans of elite units in the Israeli army have also set up a
counter-terrorism training camp at a secret location in a desert
area. In addition, an airport was built by Israelis in the northern
Kurdish city of Erbil.
Police launched the investigation after the defence ministry itself
completed a comprehensive probe into the issue.
Among the companies mentioned is Kudo, an international firm co-
owned by an Israeli from Tel Aviv and a senior government figure in
Kurdistan.
Yediot first published the story in January 2005, but at the time
did not report that the business deals were made without government
approval.
It said the Kurds preferred the cooperation projects be kept secret,
fearing exposure would motivate terrorist groups to target their
Jewish guests.
The Israeli security experts and instructors entered Iraq through
Turkey using their Israeli passports posing as agriculture experts
and infrastructure engineers.
Most Kurds and Kurdistan Regional Government welcome the
relationships with Israel, according to Hawlati newspaper
(Independent Kurdish weekly issued in Kurdistan Iraq) more than 65%
of Kurds want relations with Israel.
Source: DPA Top |
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