BEIRUT/WASHINGTON: A federal grand jury in Minnesota indicted three people on charges that they conspired to export drone parts and technology from the US to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, authorities announced Friday.
The US Attorney’s office for Minnesota said two of the suspects — brothers Usama and Issam Hamade — are now in custody in South Africa, while the third, Samir “Tony” Berro, remains at large. All three are Lebanese citizens. Usama “Prince Sam” Hamade also has South African citizenship, while Berro and Issam Hamade are also UK citizens.
The US considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The militant group has used drones at least since 2004. The indictment alleges the conspiracy operated from 2009 through to December 2013. It says the equipment included electronics that can be used in drone guidance systems, one jet engine and 20 piston engines that can be used in drones, and a pair of digital video recording binoculars.
The brothers were arrested Tuesday in South Africa for extradition to the US to face trial in Minnesota, according to another prosecution filing Friday. They appeared before a magistrate there and were ordered held pending another hearing on Feb. 26. Usama Hamade is a South African resident. The filings do not say where Issam Hamade lives, but said he would visit his brother in S. Africa.
The indictment does not name the companies, but the model names and numbers indicate the IMUs were manufactured by Concord, California-based Systron Donner Inertial, and that the digital compasses were made by Honeywell International’s operations in suburban Minneapolis.
The jet engine was sold by an unnamed Indiana company, while the piston engines were sold by an unnamed Florida company. The model number indicates the digital binoculars were made by Sony. None of the items could legally be exported to Hezbollah, the indictment said.
Berro controlled SAB Aerospace, based in Dubai, the indictment said. The defendants had most of items shipped to Lebanon and Hezbollah through the UAE and South Africa, it said. One shipment of piston engines also went through Minnesota.
Usama Hamade falsely claimed the IMUs and digital compasses would be used in drones in South Africa to monitor wildlife to prevent poaching, the indictment said. As part of the conspiracy, the indictment also alleged, Issam Hamade made nearly $174,000 in wire transfers from a bank in Beirut, Lebanon, to accounts controlled by his brother.
Imad Harb, founder and director of Quest for Middle East Analysis, a research and consulting firm, praised US efforts to crack down on Hezbollah’s widespread global military, technology and intelligence-gathering programs.
“In the United States, they are definitely having a serious impact but that does not mean they are totally ending Hezbollah’s activities. A lot of things go under the radar of even the American intelligence services,” Harb told Arab News.
“But, in the end, anything the US does to stop funds flowing to Hezbollah in Beirut is a good thing.”
Harb described a global Hezbollah footprint with cash raising, drug smuggling and other activities across Latin America, Africa and the Middle East that funded the group’s military efforts on behalf of Tehran.
“This is something that not only benefits Hezbollah, but also benefits Iran,” Harb said.
“Whether it is technology or information, anything Hezbollah gets is sent to Iran. Hezbollah is a representative of regional power that looks to expand its reach and already has a weaponized drone program, for which Hezbollah’s activities are essential.”
Washington has long targeted Hezbollah with sanctions, accusing the group of terrorist attacks and destabilizing parts of the Middle East using resources gained through global drug smuggling and money-laundering operations.
Last month the US Justice Department created the Hezbollah Financing and Narcoterrorism Team, a unit of specialists on money-laundering, drug trafficking, terrorism and organized crime aimed at Hezbollah’s fund-raising wing.
Lebanese economist Ghazi Wazni told Arab News that he wondered how suspicious wire transfers were processed without getting frozen.
Commenting on the $174,000 transferred from a bank account in Beirut to accounts in South Africa, he said: “Regardless of the amount transferred in dollars from any Lebanese bank to any other country, the sender must be questioned about the reasons for the transfer, which must undergo wire transfer audit by the bank’s compliance department.
“If the transfer is valid, the process proceeds,” he continued, “If not, it gets passed on to a special investigation commission as a first step. In the second step, the transferred amount should undergo a second audit procedure by the correspondent in New York on the reasons for the transfer.
If the transfer is valid, the process proceeds, but if found suspicious, the correspondent should freeze the transfer and demand a revision by the bank in which it was made. If the bank confirms the reasons for the transfer are legal, the correspondent decides whether to freeze the amount, return it to the bank, or complete the transfer.”
Wazni pointed out that “the amounts entering or leaving Lebanon undergo several auditing procedures — especially the ones associated with South Africa and Angola.”
Former Lebanese Army Gen. Elias Farhat told Arab News that “drone technology is available in many markets and is legally sold around the world, but banned in Lebanon because it can be used in espionage operations and bomb attacks.”
He explained that the drones sold in Lebanon are of certain kinds that cannot reach high altitudes and are used for filming weddings and other occasions.
“Any imports related to drone technologies or to security issues are subject to customs control and require permits from the Ministry of Defense,” he said, adding: “Even antennas that get installed on buildings’ rooftops require permits from the Ministry of Defense to be allowed into Lebanon.”
Farhat said that “drones can be ordered online without the need for the state to import them.” He highlighted that “Iran has advanced domestically built drones and does not need foreign technologies.”
US charges three with exporting drone parts to Lebanon’s Hezbollah
US charges three with exporting drone parts to Lebanon’s Hezbollah
Muslim group issues UK Labour Party leader with demands over Gaza
- Muslim Vote group calls for ‘real action’ to regain trust
- Support for Labour in recent local elections fell in areas with high Muslim populations
LONDON: Pro-Palestinian activists have presented a list of 18 demands to the leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party and said they will not vote for the party at the next general election if he does not fulfill them.
The Muslim Vote, a campaign to get Muslim voters to back pro-Palestine candidates, has called for Sir Keir Starmer to promise to cut military ties with Israel, implement a travel ban on Israeli politicians involved in the war in Gaza and impose sanctions on companies operating in occupied territories.
The group told Starmer he must commit to “real action” and deliver on its requests if he was “serious” about his pledge to rebuild trust with those angered by his stance on the conflict in Gaza, The Telegraph reported.
Supporters would vote for the Green Party or Liberal Democrats if he could not commit to their demands, it said.
Labour’s campaign chief Pat McFadden acknowledged that Starmer’s approach to the conflict had cost the party votes at last week’s local elections. Support for Labour dropped dramatically in areas with a high Muslim populations, including Oldham in Greater Manchester, where the party lost overall control of the council in a shock defeat.
After the result, Starmer said he was determined to regain the trust of those who abandoned Labour as a result of his stance on the Gaza war but did not make any concrete pledges on the matter.
The Muslim Vote challenged Starmer with committing to the 18 demands and implementing them should be become the next prime minister.
They include removing the definition of extremism introduced by Secretary of State for Leveling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove and issuing guidance that allows Muslims to pray at school.
Philippines rules out use of water cannon in disputed South China Sea
- Philippines and China have clashed several times in disputed, resource-rich waterway
- Latest skirmish took place late last month, in an incident Manila describes as dangerous
MANILA: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that Manila will not use offensive equipment in the disputed South China Sea, after China’s coast guard used high-pressure water cannon on Philippine vessels last week.
The Philippines and China have had several confrontations in the resource-rich area, where Beijing has used water cannon against Filipino vessels in incidents Manila has described as harassment and dangerous.
The latest in a string of maritime clashes occurred on April 30 as tensions continued to rise in the vital waterway that Beijing claims almost in its entirety despite a 2016 international arbitration ruling that rejected its assertion.
“What we are doing is defending our sovereign rights and our sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea. And we have no intention of attacking anyone with water cannons or any other such offensive (weapons),” Marcos said Monday.
“We will not follow the Chinese coast guard and the Chinese vessels down that road because it is not the mission of the navy (or) our coast guard to start or to increase tensions … Their mission is precisely the opposite, it’s to lower tensions.”
Philippine vessels have been regularly targeted by Chinese ships in areas of the South China Sea that are internationally recognized as belonging to the Philippines, which Manila calls the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs last Thursday summoned Zhou Zhiyong, China’s deputy chief of mission, after the incident left a Philippine coast guard vessel and another government boat damaged.
It was the 20th protest Manila has made against Beijing’s conduct in the South China Sea this year alone, while more than 150 diplomatic complaints have been made over the past two years.
Marcos said the Philippines will continue to respond to South China Sea incidents through diplomatic means.
Marcos’s statement comes days after the defense ministers of the Philippines, the US, Japan and Australia met in Hawaii and issued a joint statement on their strong objections to the “dangerous and destabilizing conduct” of China in the South China Sea.
UK considered Rwanda-style asylum deal with Iraq
- Documents seen by Sky News reveal London has struck returns agreement with Baghdad
- They also suggest a desire to improve relations with Iran to return people to the country
LONDON: The UK considered sending asylum-seekers to Iraq for processing, new documents have shown.
Iraq is considered very dangerous, with the UK government advising against all travel to the country.
But a plan similar to the Rwanda scheme to process migrants in a third-party country was floated at one stage by Whitehall officials, with negotiations said to have achieved “good recent progress.”
The UK has struck a returns agreement with Baghdad for Iraqi citizens, which was achieved without a formal announcement or acknowledgement and a plea for “discretion,” the documents, seen by Sky News, suggest.
The cache of papers casts new light on the UK government’s approach to dealing with asylum-seekers and illegal migration, including a desire to improve relations with the Iranian Embassy in London in order to ease the repatriation of Iranian citizens, and moves to establish return agreements with Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Biden meets Jordan’s King Abdullah as Gaza ceasefire hopes dim
- Monday’s meeting between two leaders is not a formal bilateral meeting but an informal private meeting
- US president Biden faces increasing pressure politically to convince Israel to hold off on an invasion
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden will meet Middle East ally, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, at the White House on Monday with prospects for a Gaza ceasefire appearing slim and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israeli officials blaming each other for the impasse.
On Sunday, Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to the war in exchange for the freeing of hostages, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly ruled that out. Hamas also attacked the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza that Israel said killed three of its soldiers.
A Jordanian diplomat said Monday’s meeting between Biden and King Abdullah is not a formal bilateral meeting but an informal private meeting. It comes as the Biden administration and Israeli officials remain at odds over Israel’s planned military incursion in Rafah.
Biden last met King Abdullah at the White House in February and the two longtime allies discussed a daunting list of challenges, including a looming Israeli ground offensive in southern Gaza and the threat of a humanitarian calamity among Palestinian civilians. Jordan and other Arab states have been highly critical of Israel’s actions and have been demanding a ceasefire since mid-October as civilian casualties began to skyrocket. The war began after Hamas stunned Israel with a cross-border raid on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and 252 hostages taken, according to Israeli tallies.
Biden last spoke to Netanyahu on April 28 and “reiterated his clear position” on a possible invasion of the Gaza border city of Rafah, the White House said. The US president has been vocal in his demand that Israel not undertake a ground offensive in Rafah without a plan to protect Palestinian civilians.
With pro-Palestinian protests erupting across US college campuses, Biden faces increasing pressure politically to convince Israel to hold off on an invasion. Biden addressed the campus unrest over the war in Gaza last week but said the campus protests had not forced him to reconsider his policies in the Middle East.
Russia’s president Putin orders nuclear drills with troops near Ukraine
- Putin has upped his nuclear rhetoric since the Ukraine conflict began, warning in his address to the nation in February there was a ‘real’ risk of nuclear war
MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to hold nuclear weapons drills involving the navy and troops based near Ukraine, the defense ministry said Monday.
Putin has upped his nuclear rhetoric since the Ukraine conflict began, warning in his address to the nation in February there was a “real” risk of nuclear war.
“During the exercise, a set of measures will be taken to practice the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons,” the defense ministry said.
Non-strategic nuclear weapons, also known as tactical nuclear weapons, are designed for use on the battlefield and can be delivered via missiles.
The ministry said the exercises would take place “in the near future” and were aimed at ensuring Russia’s territorial integrity in the face of “threats by certain Western officials.”
Aircraft and naval forces will take part, as well as troops from the Southern Military District, which borders Ukraine and includes the occupied Ukrainian territories, it said.
Western officials have become increasingly alarmed by the Kremlin’s nuclear rhetoric during the offensive in Ukraine, with Putin frequently invoking Russia’s nuclear doctrine.
Last year Russia ditched its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and pulled out of a key arms reduction agreement with the United States.
