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Al Qaida acquires Russian surface-to-air missiles
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SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, November 11, 2005
LONDON — Western intelligence sources said Al Qaida-aligned cells have procured the SA-18 anti-aircraft missile from the former Soviet Union. The sources said the missiles were smuggled into Turkey and acquired by Al Qaida-aligned cells in the Middle East.
"These are serious missiles and represents a step up in Al Qaida capability," an intelligence source said.
On Oct. 28, the French daily Le Figaro reported that Al Qaida-aligned cells have obtained SA-18s for attacks against French airliners. The daily said the cells acquired the missiles in 2002 from the so-called Chechen mafia.
Until 2003, Al Qaida-aligned cells were believed to have been limited to the Soviet-origin SA-7 missile. The SA-7 Strela, with a range of 3.5 kilometers, could be countered by most aircraft missile and warning systems, Middle East Newsline reported.
In contrast, the SA-18, which includes an advanced Super Igla variant, has a range of 5.2 kilometers and is capable of overcoming missile warning alert systems. The sources said that with the possible exception of Hizbullah, no insurgency group in the Middle East has acquired the SA-18.
In 2004 France foiled a plot to destroy passenger jets with the SA-18 Igla missile. An Al Qaida-aligned cell composed of Algerian and French nationals planned to shoot the missiles from near Strasbourg.
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SA-18 advanced Russian anti-aircraft missile.
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Information on the missile plot reportedly came from an aide to Al Qaida network chief Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi. The aide, identified as Adnan Sadiq, is imprisoned in Jordan in connection with an Al Qaida plot in the Hashemite kingdom.
Le Figaro said French investigators interrogated Sadiq in prison. Sadiq told the investigators that the SA-18s were acquired from Georgia and transported to France. The missiles have not been recovered.
Copyright © 2005 East West
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