U.S. suspends Afghanistan ammunition deal

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army has suspended a munitions contractor from government contract work for reportedly providing Chinese-made ammunition to the Afghanistan army in violation of its contract and U.S. law.

AEY Inc., a company based in Florida with just eight employees, is under criminal investigation for reportedly claiming that the munitions were made in Hungary, according to documents obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said there have been no reports that the ammunition was unsafe or failed to work properly. He said some of it may not have been used because of its substandard packaging.

But The New York Times reported in Thursday editions that some of the ammunition was more than 40 years old and Afghan officers complained that it was junk.

In a letter Tuesday, the Army told company owner Efraim Diveroli that the investigation could lead to AEY being barred from any U.S. government work.

Diveroli's attorney, Hy Shapiro, said Thursday he had not seen the Army's letter and declined further comment until he had. No one answered the door at the Miami Beach apartment listed in Florida state records as Diveroli's.

According to an Army Legal Services memo, AEY began contracting for the Defense and State departments in 2004, and to date has been awarded more than 150 contracts, worth in excess of $200 million.

The main contract, awarded in 2007, was for various types of ammunition for the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. It included ammunition for machine guns, assault rifles, shotguns and pistols.

After questions arose about the origin of the munitions, U.S. Army investigators in January reviewed shipments at an Afghan Army weapons depot. Stamps on munitions in 14 containers showed that the ammunition was manufactured in factories in China, the memo said.

According to the contract, based on federal law, companies doing business with the U.S. government cannot buy any munitions directly or indirectly from a Chinese military company, or any entity that is part of China's defense industrial base.

At least 105 killed in Iraq clashes

BAGHDAD  ( 2008-03-27 15:54:45 ) : 

At least 105 people have been killed in Iraq since fierce clashes between Shia militants and security forces broke out three days ago, according to an AFP tally based on reports by security officials.
Hundreds of people have been wounded in the battles.
Fighting has raged in four cities since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday ordered the security forces to raid strongholds of Shia militiamen loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the southern port city of Basra.
At least 23 people have been killed in Basra, which was on Thursday rocked for a third straight day by fighting, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross and Iraqi security officials.
Fighting spread on Thursday to the central city of Kut, where 44 people -- 40 gunmen and four policemen -- died, according to local police chief Abdul Hanin al-Amara.
Another 30 people were killed in clashes between Shia gunmen and Iraqi and US forces in Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia, Iraqi security officials said.
Eight people have been killed in the province of Babel, south of the capital, Iraqi and US officials said.

Ukrainian helicopter crashes, 12 missing

KIEV  ( 2008-03-27 19:32:05 ) : 

A helicopter belonging to Ukraine's border guards crashed off an island in the Black Sea on Thursday and the fate of 12 of its 13 passengers was unknown,the Emergencies Ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Ihor Krol said one passenger aboard the Mi-8 helicopter, a military workhorse in post-Soviet states, had been rescued off Poludenniy island near the port city of Odessa.
"The helicopter was flying from Odessa to Serpent Island," Krol said by telephone. "It was spotted overturned. There were 13 people on board. One person was rescued. The fate of 12 others remains unknown."
All but one of those on board were military officers. The ministry gave no reason for the crash, but a storm warning was in effect for the region.
Serpent Island, a windswept outcrop in the Black Sea, has long been in dispute between post-Soviet Ukraine and Romania. The row has been referred to international courts.
A border guard contingent on the island regularly receives its supplies by air.