NEW YORK (AFP)--A U.S. court on Thursday convicted a Syrian arms dealer in a plot to sell a huge arsenal, including anti-aircraft rockets, to Colombian guerrillas.
Monzer al-Kassar, also known as "El Taous," and an associate were found guilty in New York of all charges, the U.S. attorney's office said.
These included conspiracy to murder U.S. officers, to export anti-aircraft weapons, to support Colombia's FARC rebels, and money laundering.
The acting administrator for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Michele Leonhart, said the conviction of al-Kassar "puts an end to his ability to command a global munitions empire that armed and funded terrorist organizations for decades."
Al-Kassar, 63, who was extradited from Spain, and his co-defendant Luis Felipe Moreno Godoy, 60, face at least 25 years in prison on the missiles charge alone, as well as maximum sentences of 15 years for conspiracy to aid terrorists, and 20 years for money laundering.
The pair were caught in a sting operation as they plotted to sell machine guns, ammunition, and missiles to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a Marxist group battling the U.S.-backed government there.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 20, 2008 17:52 ET (22:52 GMT)

Publié le 20 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones