Het federaal parket sleept de beruchte Belgische wapenhandelaar Jacques Monsieur opnieuw voor de strafrechter. De 64-jarige Monsieur, die al in Frankrijk, België en de Verenigde Staten veroordeeld werd voor illegale wapenhandel, staat deze keer terecht omdat hij tussen 2006 en 2009 wapens en militair materiaal geleverd zou hebben aan onder meer Libië, Tsjaad, Pakistan en Iran.

De Halse notariszoon Jacques Monsieur, bijgenaamd ‘The Fox’ of ‘Le Maréchal’ is een naam als een klok in de wereld van de illegale wapenhandel, waarin hij al sinds de jaren tachtig van de vorige eeuw actief is. Zo speelde de man een cruciale rol in het Iran-Contragate-schandaal, de leveringen van Amerikaanse wapens aan Iran tijdens de oorlog Iran-Irak. Tijdens de burgeroorlog in ex-Joegoslavië leverde hij, met medeweten en minstens stilzwijgende goedkeuring van de VN en de NAVO Iraanse wapens aan de Bosnische en Kroatische troepen.

Ook was Monsieur jarenlang actief als wapenhandelaar in Latijns-Amerika, Azië en het Afrikaanse continent. In het kader van het Elf-Aquitaineschandaal bleek dat ‘Monsieur Monsieur’ voor rekening van de Franse oliemaatschappij in 1997 massaal wapens had geleverd aan Pascal Lissouba, de toenmalige president van Congo-Brazzaville die in het nauw werd gedreven door de opstand rond huidig president Sassou Nguesso. In mei 2008 veroordeelde de rechtbank van het Franse Bourges ‘The Fox’, onder meer voor zijn aandeel in het Elf-Aquitaineschandaal, tot vier jaar cel met uitstel.

Spionage

Dat was op dat moment al niet meer zijn eerste veroordeling. Eind 2001 werd Monsieur in Iran veroordeeld tot een celstraf van tien jaar voor spionage. Hij kon er een deel van zijn straf afkopen en vertrok in mei 2002 naar Turkije, dat hem terstond oppakte en uitleverde aan België. In ons land was de in oktober 2001 immers bij verstek tot vijf jaar cel veroordeeld door de correctionele rechtbank in Brussel, voor illegale wapenhandel naar onder meer Iran, China, Ecuador, Burundi en Kroatië, oplichting, misbruik van vertrouwen, valsheid in geschrifte en witwaspraktijken tussen 1986 en 2000. Monsieur ging in verzet en zijn veroordeling werd eind 2002 afgezwakt tot een celstraf van 40 maanden met uitstel.

In augustus 2009 werd Monsieur aangehouden op de luchthaven van New York en beschuldigd van samenzwering met het oog op de verkoop van F-5-gevechtsvliegtuigmotoren aan Iran. Hoewel de man er een celstraf van 65 jaar riskeerde, veroordeelde de rechtbank in Alabama hem uiteindelijk slechts tot 23 maanden cel. Het vermoeden bestaat dat Monsieur niet alleen schuldig pleitte maar de Amerikaanse overheden een hoop informatie verschafte over het Iraanse leger en het Iraanse nucleair programma. In april 2011 kwam de man vrij uit zijn Amerikaanse gevangenis en sindsdien werd het stil rond hem. Meer dan waarschijnlijk trok hij zich terug in zijn woning in het Franse Tarascon, waar hij al jaren Lusitaniërs, Portugese raspaarden, kweekt.

Volgende week vrijdag wordt Monsieur echter opnieuw in Brussel verwacht, waar hij zich opnieuw zal moeten verantwoorden voor illegale wapenleveringen. Het gaat onder andere om de levering van 100.000 automatische geweren aan Libië, 10 tanks en 5 helikopters aan Guinea-Bissau, 200.000 automatische geweren, de bijbehorende munitie, 4 gevechtshelikopters en 2 gevechtsvliegtuigen aan Tsjaad, raketlanceerders en mitrailleurs aan Pakistan en militair materiaal aan Iran.

Dekmantel

In een zeldzaam interview met RFI in 2004 verklaarde Monsieur dat de wapenhandel eigenlijk een dekmantel was voor zijn spionageactiviteiten. Zo zou hij in de jaren tachtig op vraag van de Amerikanen wapens geleverd hebben aan Iran omdat hem dat toegang verschafte tot de militaire kringen in dat land en informatie kon verzamelen over de sterkte van het Iraanse leger en de Iraanse wapenindustrie.

Later zou hij ook voor de Franse geheime diensten gewerkt hebben. Volgens Monsieur was dat ook de reden waarom hij in Iran voor spionage werd veroordeeld. Ook zijn activiteiten op het Afrikaanse continent in de jaren negentig linkt Monsieur aan zijn rol als spion. De wapens die hij bleef aankopen in Iran, om daar te kunnen blijven spioneren, moest hij naar eigen zeggen wel ergens kwijt kunnen en werden dan ook verkocht aan Afrikaanse geïnteresseerden, al ging een deel ook naar Azië en Latijns-Amerika.</s>(Belga) Le parquet fédéral assigne à nouveau le trafiquant d'armes Jacques Monsieur devant le tribunal correctionnel. Le Belge de 64 ans, déjà condamné en France, aux Etats-Unis et en Belgique pour trafic d'armes, comparaît cette fois parce qu'il est soupçonné d'avoir livré entre 2006 et 2009 des armes et du matériel militaire en Libye, au Tchad, au Pakistan et en Iran, notamment. Le procès se tiendra le 28 avril devant la 47e chambre du tribunal correctionnel de Bruxelles.

Jacques Monsieur, originaire de Hal et surnommé "The Fox" ou "Le Maréchal", est actif dans le trafic d'armes depuis les années '80 du siècle dernier. Il a notamment joué un rôle clé dans le scandale Irangate, soit la livraison d'armes à l'Iran pendant la guerre Iran-Irak. Durant la guerre civile en ex-Yougoslavie, il a par ailleurs livré des armes iraniennes aux troupes bosniaques et croates. Toujours dans le domaine des armes, Monsieur a également sévi comme trafiquant en Amérique latine, en Asie et sur le continent africain. Son nom apparaît encore dans le cadre de l'affaire Elf qui a secoué la France. La justice française l'avait d'ailleurs condamné en 2008 à quatre ans de prison avec sursis. Chez nous, Jacques Monsieur a été condamné par défaut en octobre 2001 à cinq ans de prison par le tribunal correctionnel de Bruxelles pour trafic d'armes à destination de l'Iran, de la Chine, de l'Équateur, du Burundi et de la Croatie, pour escroquerie, abus de confiance, faux en écriture et blanchiment, entre 1986 et 2000. Monsieur avait fait opposition et sa condamnation avait été ramenée à une peine de 40 mois avec sursis. En août 2009, Monsieur a été interpellé à l'aéroport de New York. Il était accusé de complot en vue de vendre des moteurs d'avions de combat F5 à l'Iran. Bien que l'homme risquait une peine de 65 ans de prison, un tribunal de l'Alabama lui a finalement infligé 23 mois de détention. Il semble que non seulement Monsieur ait plaidé coupable aux Etats-Unis mais aussi qu'il ait dévoilé aux autorités américaines une mine d'informations sur l'armée iranienne et le programme nucléaire iranien. En avril 2011, il était sorti de prison aux Etats-Unis et n'a plus été poursuivi depuis. Il s'est très probablement retiré dans son domicile de Tarascon (sud-est de la France) où il élève depuis des années des chevaux de race. Vendredi prochain, Jacques Monsieur devra revenir s'expliquer devant le tribunal de Bruxelles. On lui reproche d'avoir livré 100.000 armes automatiques en Libye, 10 tanks et 5 hélicoptères en Guinée-Bissau, 200.000 armes automatiques et munitions, quatre hélicoptères de combat et deux avions de chasse au Tchad, des lance-missiles au Pakistan et du matériel militaire en Iran. (Belga)</s>* Deal violates U.N. arms embargo on Iran (Updates with U.S. State Department spokeswoman, paragraphs 7-9 and 11-14)

BAGHDAD, Feb 24 Iran has signed a deal to sell Iraq arms and ammunition worth $195 million, according to documents seen by a move that would break a U.N. embargo on weapons sales by Tehran.

The agreement was reached at the end of November, the documents showed, just weeks after Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki returned from lobbying the Obama administration in Washington for extra weapons to fight al Qaeda-linked militants.

Some in Washington are nervous about providing sensitive U.S. military equipment to a country they worry is becoming too close to Iran. Several Iraqi lawmakers said Maliki had made the deal because he was fed up with delays in U.S. arms deliveries.

A spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister would not confirm or deny the sale, but said such a deal would be understandable given Iraq's current security troubles.

"We are launching a war against terrorism and we want to win this war. Nothing prevents us from buying arms and ammunition from any party and it's only ammunition helping us to fight terrorists," said the spokesman, Ali Mussawi.

The Iranian government denied any knowledge of a deal to sell arms to Iraq. It would be the first official arms deal between Shi'ite Iran and Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and would highlight the growing bond between them in the two years since the departure of U.S. troops from Iraq.

The U.S. State Department said it was looking into the reports.

"If true, this would raise serious concerns," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a news briefing.

"Any transfer of arms from Iran to a third country is in direct violation of UNSCR 1747. We are seeking clarification on the matter from the government of Iraq and to ensure that Iraqi officials understand the limits that international law places on arms trade with Iran," Psaki said, referring to the U.N. resolution that imposed an arms embargo on Iran.

A U.S. official said such a deal could further complicate Washington's approach to negotiating with Iran on easing international sanctions over its nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at producing bombs. Iran says its aims are purely peaceful.

Asked at the Washington briefing if the deal could have come about due to Iraqi frustration at the slowness of U.S. deliveries, Psaki said the United States was committed to supporting Iraq and had provided it with more than $15 billion in military and security equipment, services, and training.

"We're working to accelerate our ... deliveries of critical CT (counterterrorism) equipment," she said.

Psaki said recent U.S. shipments included Hellfire missiles, hundreds of small arms and large quantities of small arms and tank ammunition. She said the U.S. government had also notified Congress of plans to supply Iraq with Apache helicopters.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated U.S. support for Iraq's fight against militants and discussed the security situation in the Iraqi province of Anbar in a call with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari on Saturday, Psaki said.

A U.N. diplomatic source close to the U.N. Security Council's Iran sanctions committee was aware of the Iran-Iraq arms deal and voiced concern about it, while declining to disclose details about those concerns. The source spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The official documents seen by Reuters showed that six of eight contracts were signed with Iran's Defense Industries Organization to supply Iraq with light and medium arms, mortar launchers, ammunition for tanks as well as artillery and mortars.

A final two contracts were agreed to with the state-owned Iran Electronic Industries for night vision goggles, communications equipment and mortar-guiding devices.

One of the contracts includes equipment to protect against chemical agents. An Iraqi army major with knowledge of procurement issues said that would include items such as gas masks and gloves, as well as injections. Baghdad has expressed fear the militants will use such agents against its forces.

Officials from the Iraqi and Iranian defense ministries signed the agreements, according to the documents. They did not list a timetable for deliveries and it was not possible to confirm whether they had taken place.

Maliki has been engaged in a nearly two-month-old battle in western Iraq against Sunni al Qaeda-inspired militants and rebellious tribesmen. The prime minister has blamed the unrest in Anbar on the conflict spilling over from neighboring Syria.

One Western security official said U.S. government experts believed an Iranian-Iraqi arms deal had been in the works for some time. The growing friendship between the two countries is discomfiting for the United States, which has accused Iran of having shipped arms to the Syrian government through Iraq.

Iran already supplies Baghdad with electricity and gas and reiterated an offer of military assistance in January.

The weapons purchases amount to a drop in the ocean for Iraq, which receives most of its arms from the United States and has also bought weapons and helicopters from Russia and other countries.

But they are politically significant as Maliki purses a third term in office.

Iraqi politicians consider Iran's blessing as a necessity for seeking power. Maliki won his second term in 2010 only after the Iranians exerted pressure on recalcitrant Shi'ite parties on his behalf.

Many Iraqis accuse Iran of funding Iraqi Shi'ite militias who have seen a resurgence in the last two years as Iraq's security has deteriorated.

Images of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei now decorate posters seen around Baghdad of Iraqi Shiite fighters slain fighting in Syria.

"We have here a political and not a military deal," said Amman-based Iraq analyst Yahya al-Kubaisay from the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies, a think tank filled with political opponents of the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government.

"On one hand it is aimed at financing Iran, which is desperately in need of dollars, and on the other it is clearly aimed at winning Tehran's support for Maliki's third term."

Three Iraqi lawmakers, who said they had knowledge of the deals, argued they were due to Maliki's unhappiness with Washington's response to his request to supply Iraq with arms and ammunition to fight militant groups during his visit late last year. Iraq has long complained the timetable for U.S. weapons and aircraft delivery was too slow.

"The Americans were obviously dragging their feet from implementing the arms deals signed with Baghdad and under different pretexts, and that was a reason to get urgent shipments from Tehran," said one of the lawmakers, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

In recent months, the U.S. government has delivered Hellfire missiles and surveillance drones to Iraq as part of its long-standing relationship with Baghdad, which it invaded in 2003. It has also supplied Iraq with M1 Abrams tanks and is in the process of delivering F-16 fighter jets.

Since fighting broke out in western Anbar in January, Washington has pushed to move ahead with the sale of 24 Apache attack helicopters to Iraq, which had been held up for months due to the concerns of U.S. lawmakers about how Maliki, who is increasingly at odds with minority Sunnis, would use them.

A Shi'ite lawmaker close to Maliki said the deal with Iran sent a message to Washington that threatening to withhold or delay arms purchases would no longer work.

"If you went to a shop to buy a toy and they refused to sell it to you, then as long as you have the cash, you can get it from the shop next door. It's as simple as that," said the official, who also asked to remain unidentified by name due to the sensitivity of the issue.

A senior Iraq army officer said Iran was the best source for quick shipments as some of the arms used by the Iraqi army are similar to those manufactured by Tehran, including assault weapons, mortars, artillery and tank ammunition. Iran even produces ammunition for U.S.-made M-12 assault rifles, used by the Iraqi military.

Maliki defended Iraq's counterterrorism strategy last week in an editorial published on the website of the influential U.S. journal Foreign Policy: "Thanks to our rapidly growing economy, we are able and willing to pay for all the military equipment we need," he wrote.

Mohammad Marandi, a professor at University of Tehran, told Reuters he had no knowledge of an arms deal with Iraq, but that Iran would not be troubled by the idea: "Iranians don't accept the legitimacy of sanctions. Plus, Iran sells military equipment to many countries."

The eight contracts signed with Iran are as follows:

* M12 USA ammunition 20 X 102 mm: $3 million (Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, Phil Stewart and David Brunnstrom in Washington, Lou Charbonneau in New York and Michelle Mariam Moghtader in Dubai; Editing by Isabel Coles, Ned Parker, Philippa Fletcher and Jonathan Oatis)
Arms trader Jacques Monsieur is to defend himself again at a Brussels court against accusations of arms trafficking to Libya, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Pakistan and Iran between 2006 and 2009.