Mexico Investigating Pakistani Suspect( in US custody, ties to IranContra)

[maddezmom]

By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press Writer
6 minutes ago



MEXICO CITY - Mexico is investigating why a Pakistani national wanted by the United States for allegedly selling anti-aircraft missiles was in a beach community outside Tijuana, President Vicente Fox's spokesman said Thursday.

Acting on intelligence provided by the United States, Mexican authorities captured Arif Durrani earlier this week as he left a restaurant in Playas de Rosarito, near the Tijuana-San Diego border, spokesman Ruben Aguilar said.

Durrani, 55, had entered Mexico from the United States but at the time of his arrest could not provide documents proving he had done so legally, Aguilar said.

Durrani was deported by Mexico late Wednesday, but he was taken into U.S. custody when his flight to Pakistan stopped in Los Angeles.

Aguilar said Mexico has not charged Durrani with wrongdoing, but its authorities were still investigating.

~snip~
more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050616/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/mexico_us_arms_suspect;_

[TahitiNut]

1. The lobster is particularly good in Playas de Rosarito.

He must not be adhering to Islamic dietary laws. :shrug:

[maddezmom]

2. perhaps it's his connection to Iran-Contra?

from the article:
Durrani, a former U.S. resident, was convicted in the United States in 1987 of selling missile parts to Iran and served five years in prison. He was deported from the United States in 1998 and apparently has lived in Mexico since then.

It was unclear whether the current investigation was related to Durrani's prior conviction. He had claimed to have acted as part of the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal, in which arms were sold to Iran to finance Nicaraguan rebels when the U.S. Congress had barred such aid.

In 2003, Durrani petitioned a U.S. court to have his conviction overturned and asked to review more government documents to try to prove he sold the parts at the behest of former Lt. Col. Oliver North and other U.S. officials.

Durrani claims he was part of Washington's effort to exchange arms for American hostages held in Lebanon. He said North, a former National Security Council aide, told him to ship the missile parts to Iran and not to worry about getting an export license.

[maddezmom]

3. A bit more: Missile trafficker faces arraignment in L.A.

~snip~
Durrani, 55, was convicted in Connecticut in 1987 on three counts of selling parts for the Hawk antiaircraft missile to Iran. He claimed to have been acting at the behest of Marine Col. Oliver North in what later became known as the Iran-Contra scandal.

Hawk missiles, which were first developed in the 1950s, were used by Kuwait to shoot down 22 Iraqi warplanes when Saddam Hussein's forces invaded in 1990. Israel used Hawks to shoot down Arab fighters during the Six-Day War in 1967. U.S. forces have never used them in combat.

Durrani was sentenced to ten years in prison. He served five years, then voluntarily left the United States for Paris before eventually turning up in Mexico.

He is scheduled to appear Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on criminal charges, according to Dean Boyd of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Washington, D.C. Officials in Washington and in Los Angeles would not specify what the charges were Thursday morning.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050616-1315-bn16missile4.html