Summary

June 8, 2007 LONDON: POLICE SEARCH HOUSE OF ARMS DEALEER AL-KASSAR, OLD AL-KASSAR CLIPS NY2/X80/Slugged: 1520 KASSAR X80 15:18:52 ++Spain Syria Friday, 8 June 2007 STORY:++Spain Syria- NEW Police search house of arms dealer Monzer al-Kassar after arrest LENGTH: 02:17 FIRST RUN: 1730 RESTRICTIONS: No Access Spain TYPE: Natsound SOURCE: EFE STORY NUMBER: 525671 DATELINE: Marbella, 8 June 2007 LENGTH: 02:17 SHOTLIST: Marbella, Spain, 8 June 2007 1 Wide of tennis court 2 Various of exterior of house 3 Slow zoom from behind fence to house 4 Exterior of house 5 Wide of gates with guard dogs barking behind 6Police letting man through gates 7 Various police cars arriving 8 Various masked Policeman guarding gates 9 Convoy of cars entering compound 10 Shot through gap in gate entrance of individuals getting out of cars (man in grey suit jacket holding paper is suspect Monzer al-Kassar) 11 Various of journalists outside house STORYLINE A wealthy Syrian arms dealer previously accused of supplying arms to militants in several nations including Iraq and Somalia has been arrested in Spain on charges he plotted to supply millions of dollars worth of weapons to Colombian rebels, US officials said Friday The arrest followed an international sting operation in which undercover agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration convinced Monzer al-Kassar that they wanted to buy surface-to-air missile systems, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, thousands of machine guns and millions of rounds of ammunition for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a rebel army classified in the United States as a terrorist group The 61-year-old Al-Kassar and his cohorts believed the arms deal was absolutely real, US Attorney Michael Garcia said at a news conference The defendant, a longtime resident of Spain, was arrested on Thursday evening at Madrid's Barajas airport after he arrived on a flight from the southern resort city of Malaga, officials said On Friday, investigators searched his palatial home in Marbella, near Malaga Two other men indicted in Manhattan's US District Court, Tareq Mousa al Ghazi and Luis Filipe Moreno Godoy, were arrested in Romania, officials said During the sting, more than 400-thousand US dollars wer wired from New York to Spain as down payment, but no weapons ever changed hands, officials said The indictment said al-Kassar had provided weapons and military equipment to violent factions in Nicaragua, Brazil, Cyprus, Bosnia, Croatia, Somalia, Iran and Iraq Al-Kassar's weapons-trafficking business included an international network of criminal associates, front companies and bank accounts, the indictment said In addition to bombings, massacres, kidnappings and other acts of violence within Colombia, the revolutionary group, known as FARC, is the world's largest supplier of cocaine, the indictment said Al-Kassar is also reportedly on the Iraqi government's most-wanted list for allegedly arming insurgents, and has been accused of aiding militants in many of the world's bloodiest conflicts He stood trial in Spain in 1995 on charges he supplied assault rifles used by Palestinian militants in the hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985, but was acquitted for lack of evidence The indictment said al-Kassar has provided weapons and military equipment to violent factions in Nicaragua, Brazil, Cyprus, Bosnia, Croatia, Somalia, Iran and Iraq Al-Kassar went before a Spanish judge in Madrid on Friday There were no immediate details on extradition proceedings, though Spain and the United States do have an extradition treaty that applies in such cases 15:22:23 LN059-013 SEGMENT [7] 1995/03/22 ************************************************ 00:10:08 madrid spain al kassar found not guilty in court for supply of arms to achille lauro hijack, court pix, i/v, v sign as leaves 15:24:02 LN209-010 SEGMENT [18] 1992/06/04 ************************************************ 00:31:49 pam am 103 investigation libya suspects syria born al kassar still photo file pix lockerbie crash site aerial of marbella marbella spain aerial of al kassar villa interior of madrid airport