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Israel Linked To Illegal Nuclear
Device Smuggling From US
By Saif Abu Marzouq
for Middle East News Online
12-31-1
Just two weeks after American news network Fox News revealed shocking reports
of Israeli spies trying to infiltrate the United States, more disturbing links
to Israel have been uncovered last Friday.
A former US engineer admitted to a federal court that he smuggled 50 electronic
devices to Israel that could be used for triggering nuclear bombs.
The man, Richard Kelly Smyth, has been a fugitive in Spain for the last 16
years, reportedly living quietly in the countryside until he decided to open a
bank account. Carrying out a routine check on his identity, the Spanish bank
found a US arrest warrant and had Smyth arrested.
Smyth pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to a 1985 charge that he illegally exported
a shipment of krytrons to Israel in 1982 without the appropriate U.S. licenses.
His guilty plea to one count of violating the Arms Export Control Act and one
count of making a false statement to the Customs Service was expected to land
him in federal prison for up to seven years when he is sentenced on Feb. 28.
The devises, krytrons, which Smyth illegally smuggled to Israel were described
by the U.S. Attorney's office as 'small devices that transfer precise bursts of
energy.'
'The devices can be used in nuclear weapons, in other military applications,'
the prosecutors indicated in a statement released Friday.
The Israeli government however, which has been caught spying on the US in the
past, maintained that it had purchased the krytrons sent by Smyth's Orange
County firm from Heli Trading Corp., an Israeli vendor, for purely conventional
research purposes and not for use in nuclear weapons. It also claims that it
was not aware of U.S. export restrictions.
The US court however is refusing to accept the Israeli explanation considering
Israel's possession of weapons of mass destruction.
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