Kiev
Ukraine has given U.S. and British weapons experts unprecedented access to military sites and records in an effort to prove it did not sell a high-tech radar system to Iraq. The alleged sale of the Kolchuga aircraft-detection system would have been a violation of U.N. sanctions against Iraq. Last month, the U.S. suspended $50 million in aid to Ukraine after saying it had authenticated a tape made by President Leonid Kuchma’s ex-bodyguard on which Kuchma can be heard approving the sale. Kuchma is desperate for more U.S. financial aid for his ailing country, and he swears he did not make the sale. “Ukraine is very worried about the charges,” said presidential chief of staff Viktor Medvedchuk. If Iraq does have Kolchuga radar, a U.S. strike against the country would be much more difficult.
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