Spain arrests Syrian for selling arms to FARC

NEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) Syrian weapons merchant Monzer al-Kassar, who has armed militants from Iraq to Nicaragua, was arrested in Spain and faces extradition to the United States for trying to supply Colombian rebels, US and Spanish authorities said today.

Another two men, Tareq Mousa al Ghazi and Luis Felipe Moreno Godoy, were arrested in Romania. All three are wanted on charges of conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

An indictment unsealed in New York today said the men had agreed to provide the weapons for the FARC ''to use to protect their cocaine-trafficking business and to attack United States interests in Colombia.'' Colombia is the world's top producer of cocaine, with most of its crop destined for the United States and Europe.

A long-time Spanish resident known as the ''Prince of Marbella'' for his opulent lifestyle, Kassar has sold weapons to the Palestinian Liberation Front, Nicaragua, Bosnia, Croatia, Iran, Iraq and Somalia, the US embassy in Madrid said.

The US Embassy in Madrid said it would seek the extradition of the men.

The three are also charged with conspiracy to kill US nationals, conspiracy to kill officers and employees of the United States, conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles, and money laundering.

US prosecutors said Kassar and Ghazi met with two confidential sources working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration at Kassar's home in Marbella, Spain, in February and discussed the sale of weapons to the FARC.

The sources said they represented the FARC and needed the weapons to fight against the United States in Colombia. They requested assault rifles, sniper rifles, Makarov pistols, ammunition, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, grenade rounds and hand grenades.

EXPLOSIVES, MISSILES Prosecutors allege Kassar told the sources the weapons would cost between 6 million and 8 million euros (8 million dollars to 10.6 million dollars) and offered to send 1,000 men to fight with the FARC against US military officers.

He also offered to supply the sources ''with C4 explosives, detonators, and experts to train the FARC to use them against these United States armed forces,'' the indictment said.

In March, prosecutors said all three men met again with the sources at Kassar's home where the men allegedly agreed to provide prices for ''surface-to-air missile systems for the FARC to use to attack United States helicopters in Colombia.'' The indictment said the men discussed transporting the weapons to the FARC by boat.

The US government has designated the FARC as a foreign terrorist organization. The rebels have been fighting for socialist revolution since 1964 and have at times run large swathes of Colombia.

Kassar was arrested at Madrid airport yesterday and appeared before a judge in the capital today.

''Since the 1970s, Kassar has provided weapons and military equipment to armed factions -- including known terrorist organizations, such as the Palestinian Liberation Front -- in Nicaragua, Cyprus, Bosnia, Croatia, Iran, Iraq, Somalia and elsewhere,'' the U.S. embassy in Madrid said.

In 1995, Kassar was acquitted by Spain's high court of a charge of piracy in connection with the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro by Palestinian guerrillas.

Reuters SBC DB2142