Intelligence officers involved in arms trade to Croatia and Somalia

Rzeczpospolita daily has learned that for years Polish-made weapons have been shipped to UN embargo-listed Croatia and Somalia, as well as to the Russian Mafia. It has been discovered that Polish intelligence officers were engaged in the arms trade that involved a notorious terrorist, al-Kassar. Some of the guns smuggled were allegedly used in hijacking the "Achille Lauro" ship. Although the weapons market is strictly controlled by intelligence departments all over the world, Polish military intelligence never reveal the destination of arms shipments, which makes ultimate control, even by Parliament, difficult. Moreover, some officers assisted the illegal trade by helping a private company, Steo, run by one of their colleagues to receive licenses to sell arms. According to Rzeczpospolita, between 1992-1996 Steo and another company, Cenreks, shipped at least 15 illegal exports of weapons with a nominal value close to zl. 4.5 million. Today, a court will reopen the lawsuit against the accused, which was closed after one of the accused died. It is believe that some of the culprits are still serving in the intelligence service. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A1) J.K.