North Koreans Arm Ethiopians as U.S. Assents

[xiinfaniin]

April 8, 2007

North Koreans Arm Ethiopians as U.S. Assents

By MICHAEL R. GORDON and MARK MAZZETTI

 

WASHINGTON, April 7 — Three months after the United States successfully pressed the United Nations to impose strict sanctions on North Korea because of the country’s nuclear test, Bush administration officials allowed Ethiopia to complete a secret arms purchase from the North, in what appears to be a violation of the restrictions, according to senior American officials.

 

The United States allowed the arms delivery to go through in January in part because Ethiopia was in the midst of a military offensive against Islamic militias inside Somalia, a campaign that aided the American policy of combating religious extremists in the Horn of Africa.

 

American officials said that they were still encouraging Ethiopia to wean itself from its longstanding reliance on North Korea for cheap Soviet-era military equipment to supply its armed forces and that Ethiopian officials appeared receptive. But the arms deal is an example of the compromises that result from the clash of two foreign policy absolutes: the Bush administration’s commitment to fighting Islamic radicalism and its effort to starve the North Korean government of money it could use to build up its nuclear weapons program.

 

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, as the administration has made counterterrorism its top foreign policy concern, the White House has sometimes shown a willingness to tolerate misconduct by allies that it might otherwise criticize, like human rights violations in Central Asia and antidemocratic crackdowns in a number of Arab nations.

 

It is also not the first time that the Bush administration has made an exception for allies in their dealings with North Korea. In 2002, Spain intercepted a ship carrying Scud missiles from North Korea to Yemen. At the time, Yemen was working with the United States to hunt members of Al Qaeda operating within its borders, and after its government protested, the United States asked that the freighter be released. Yemen said at the time that it was the last shipment from an earlier missile purchase and would not be repeated.

 

American officials from a number of agencies described details of the Ethiopian episode on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal Bush administration deliberations.

 

Several officials said they first learned that Ethiopia planned to receive a delivery of military cargo from North Korea when the country’s government alerted the American Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, after the adoption on Oct. 14 of the United Nations Security Council measure imposing sanctions.

 

“The Ethiopians came back to us and said, ‘Look, we know we need to transition to different customers, but we just can’t do that overnight,’ ” said one American official, who added that the issue had been handled properly. “They pledged to work with us at the most senior levels.”

 

American intelligence agencies reported in late January that an Ethiopian cargo ship that was probably carrying tank parts and other military equipment had left a North Korean port.

 

The value of the shipment is unclear, but Ethiopia purchased $20 million worth of arms from North Korea in 2001, according to American estimates, a pattern that officials said had continued. The United States gives Ethiopia millions of dollars of foreign aid and some nonlethal military equipment.

 

After a brief debate in Washington, the decision was made not to block the arms deal and to press Ethiopia not to make future purchases.

 

John R. Bolton, who helped to push the resolution imposing sanctions on North Korea through the Security Council in October, before stepping down as United Nations ambassador, said that the Ethiopians had long known that Washington was concerned about their arms purchases from North Korea and that the Bush administration should not have tolerated the January shipment.

 

“To make it clear to everyone how strongly we feel on this issue we should have gone to the Ethiopians and said they should send it back,” said Mr. Bolton, who added that he had been unaware of the deal before being contacted for this article. “I know they have been helpful in Somalia, but there is a nuclear weapons program in North Korea that is unhelpful for everybody worldwide.

 

“Never underestimate the strength of ‘clientitis’ at the State Department,” said Mr. Bolton, using Washington jargon for a situation in which State Department officials are deemed to be overly sympathetic to the countries they conduct diplomacy with.

 

Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, declined to comment on the specifics of the arms shipment but said the United States was “deeply committed to upholding and enforcing U.N. Security Council resolutions.” Repeated efforts to contact the Ethiopian Embassy were unsuccessful.

 

In other cases, the United States has been strict in enforcing the Security Council resolution. For instance, late last year, American intelligence agencies tracked a North Korean freighter suspected of carrying illicit weapons and pressed several nations to refuse to allow the ship to dock. Myanmar, formerly Burma, allowed it to anchor and insisted that there was no violation.

 

North Korea conducted its first nuclear test on Oct. 9, and the Security Council resolution, adopted less than a week later, was hailed by President Bush as “swift and tough,” and a “clear message to the leader of North Korea regarding his weapons programs.”

 

Among the biggest sticking points during the negotiations over the resolution were Chinese and Russian objections to language requiring inspections of ships leaving North Korea. The United States repeatedly pressed China and Russia to agree to the inspections, saying they were essential to enforcing the resolution’s embargo on North Korea’s sale of dangerous weapons, like ballistic missiles. In addition to the ban on the purchase of weapons from North Korea, the resolution also called for a ban on the sale of luxury goods to it and the freezing of its financial assets in banks worldwide.

 

The measure had special relevance for several African states that have long purchased low-cost military equipment from North Korea. Ethiopia has an arsenal of T-55 tanks that it acquired years ago from the Soviet Union and Eastern European nations. For years, it has turned to North Korea for tank parts and other equipment to keep its military running.

 

The Ethiopians bought the equipment at a bargain price; the North Koreans received some badly needed cash. In 2005, the Bush administration told Ethiopia and other African nations that it wanted them to phase out their purchases from North Korea. But the Security Council resolution put an international imprimatur on the earlier American request, and the administration sought to reinforce the message.

 

“They really are one of the larger conventional arms purchasers from North Korea, and we’re pressing them hard and saying, ‘Let’s get you out of that business,’ ” said the American official.

 

Another American official, who is involved in Africa policy, said: “These are cash on the barrel transactions. The Ethiopians know that they can get the best deal in Pyongyang,” a reference to North Korea’s capital.

 

In late January, the Central Intelligence Agency reported that an Ethiopian-flagged vessel had left a North Korean port and that its cargo probably included “tank parts,” among other military equipment.

 

American officials said that the ship, the Tekeze, a modern vessel bought from a company in Montenegro and named after an Ethiopian river, unloaded its cargo in Djibouti, a former French colony where the United States has based Special Operations troops and other military forces. From there, the cargo was transported overland to Ethiopia.

 

The Security Council resolution’s list of prohibited items included spare parts. Because the cargo was never inspected, some administration officials say the United States cannot say for certain that the shipment violated the resolution.

 

It is not clear if the United States ever reported the arms shipment to the Security Council. But because the intelligence reports indicated that the cargo was likely to have included tank parts, some Pentagon officials described the shipment as an unambiguous Security Council violation.

 

American officials said the Ethiopians acknowledged that the ship was en route and said that they needed the equipment to sustain their Soviet-era military. Ethiopia has a longstanding border dispute with Eritrea, but of more concern to Washington, Ethiopia was also focused on neighboring Somalia, where Islamic forces that had taken over Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, six months earlier and were attacking Baidoa, the seat of a relatively powerless transitional government that was formed with the support of the United Nations.

 

The timing of the shipment was extremely awkward, as the Ethiopian military was preoccupied with Somalia and also quietly cooperating with the United States. Ethiopia began an offensive in Somalia to drive back the Islamic forces and install the transitional government in Mogadishu late last year. The United States was providing it with detailed intelligence about the locations of the Islamic forces and was positioning Navy ships off Somalia’s coast to capture fighters trying to escape the battlefield by sea.

 

On Jan. 7, American AC-130 gunships launched two strikes on terrorist targets from an airstrip inside Ethiopia, though it did not appear that the casualties included any of the few top operatives of Al Qaeda American officials suspected were hiding in Somalia.

 

After some internal debate, the Bush administration decided not to make an issue of the cargo ship.

 

American officials insist that they are keeping up the pressure on Ethiopia. While Ethiopia has not provided an ironclad assurance that it will accept no more arms shipments from North Korea, it has told the United States that it will look for other weapons suppliers.

 

“There was a lot going on at that particular moment in time,” said the senior American official. “They seem to have the readiness to do the right thing.”

[xiinfaniin]

U.S. Allowed N. Korea Arms Sale

Shipment to Ethiopia May Have Violated U.N. Resolution

 

By Glenn Kessler

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, April 8, 2007; A15

 

 

The United States did not act to prevent a recent shipment of arms from North Korea to Ethiopia, even though sketchy intelligence indicated the delivery might violate a U.N. Security Council resolution restricting North Korean arms sales, Bush administration officials said yesterday.

 

The decision to let the shipment proceed was made by relatively low-level staffers, with little internal debate, and it was unknown to top policymakers involved in the campaign to punish Pyongyang for its test of a nuclear weapon last October, officials said.

 

The January arms delivery occurred as Ethiopia was fighting Islamic militias in Somalia, aiding U.S. policies of combating religious extremists in the Horn of Africa.

 

Intelligence reports indicated that the shipment included spare parts, including tank parts, officials said. Nevertheless, the cargo was not inspected, making it difficult to know whether it violated the U.N. resolution. The value of the shipment is also unclear.

 

An interdiction of the shipment, delivered by a ship under the Ethiopian flag, was never seriously considered, officials said. Policy implications were not raised to Cabinet-level officials or even to those at the assistant-secretary level.

 

The New York Times reported the arms shipment on its Web site yesterday. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to comment on the report but said, "We are deeply committed to upholding and enforcing U.N. Security Council resolutions."

 

Ethiopia and other African countries that rely on Soviet-era military equipment have long purchased inexpensive spare parts from North Korea. The United States has sought to persuade those countries to end their relationships with Pyongyang. After U.S. diplomats learned of the January shipment, Ethiopian officials pledged yet again to look for suppliers other than North Korea, U.S. officials said.

 

The Bush administration has led a years-long campaign to choke off North Korea's access to hard currency by thwarting weapons sales and cracking down on its extensive counterfeiting operations.

 

North Korea recently agreed to shut down its nuclear reactor, but only after the United States ended an investigation into a Macau bank linked to money laundering and counterfeiting operations. About $25 million in North Korea-linked bank accounts was frozen because of the probe, infuriating Pyongyang.

[Peacenow]

The article is displayed prominetly on the NYTimes.com website as I write. Actually to credit of the NYT, their reporting has been putting the pressure on Ethiopiua. In Feb. 23rd, they broke what everyone knows, the close business like relationship between the US and Ethiopia in planning the invasion of Somalia. The ethiopians were furious at the revelations and come out strong denying it. The spotlight is falling on the regime in Ethiopia. The Guardian in London, has been calling for this regime for some time now. Which is positive as well. If you write and write to these journalists, eventiually they will take up your case.

[Jacaylbaro]

why purchasing weapons from N-Korea ??? ,,, what happened to the other pro-American countries in the world horta ???

[Peacenow]

Probably, cause it is cheap. They can hardly afford to spend big bucks can they.

[Jacaylbaro]

I thought everything will be charged the US war on terror account ,,,,, never thought it is their money

[Alle-ubaahne]

masha-allah, they (the stinking Ethiopians) will buy such weaponaries from N. Korea, and all will end up on our hands, by furasho, Insha-Allah.

 

Ilaahow hubkaas gacanteena soo gali, yaa Rabi!

[Gordon Gekko]

^^ lol sheekada "yaa Rabbii juunii dahab" mee isku badashay hadanna lol

[Jacaylbaro]

looooooooooooooooooooool@juunii dahab

 

 

Rabbi jawaan lacag ah baa nin laga hayay

[JJ_MAHAD]

Quate: "why purchasing weapons from N-Korea ??? ,,, what happened to the other pro-American countries in the world horta ???"

 

Remember, the release of the $25m forezen in Macau bank was one of the conditions of N-Koria.

 

 

It looks this deal was part of the American concessions to Norh-Koria inorder to stop their Nuclear ambitions.

[JJ_MAHAD]

Simply put "kill two birds with one stone"

 

1. Help Ethios in their offense by getting advanced weapons.

 

2. Give N-korians something that may presuade them to accept Nuc-deal.

[Faarax-Brawn]

This is from 2007,right?

 

American officials said that the ship, the Tekeze, a modern vessel bought from a company in Montenegro and named after an Ethiopian river, unloaded its cargo in

Djibouti,

a former French colony where the United States has based Special Operations troops and other military forces. From there, the cargo was transported overland to Ethiopia

Backtrack hundred years later,1887

 

Negus Menelik, in response to Italian control of Eritrea and the port of Massawa, had begun to import firearms and munitions through the French-controlled ports of

Djibouti.

Emir 'Abd Allah of Harar, a fantical Moslem,

This is just mind bogglingly amazing.

[Jacaylbaro]

Amazing Indeed ,,,,,,,,,,,,, history repeats itself

[Peacenow]

Yes it is amazing, thanks for the input Faraax Brown. But it also showed that in 100 years the Somalis haven't progressed an inch.

[Faarax-Brawn]

I know,How amazing this is. History does repeat itself indeed.The Ethios & their Masters just know how to choose the right(wrong) people to do the right(wrong)job for them. The folks who saw this,were labeled terrorists,Modern day Mad Mullahs if you will.

 

The dates have changed,The rulers have changed,the masters have changed but the Enemy is still the same. The thumb of rule for the Ethios is quite simple. Finish the Somali people as soon as they become powerful.

 

Sadly,there is a bunch of our Somali people who are misguided to think that the invasion of the ethios is but to help establish a Somali state. Yeah right!