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Report: Bin Laden sought high-tech weapons in 1980s Yugoslavia
Jan 12, 2010, 8:34 GMT
Belgrade - Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden tried to covertly buy weapons from the former Yugoslavia in the 1980s, but was turned down, according to an investigation by the Belgrade daily Blic Tuesday.
The weapons were intended for Afghanistan, where Islamist rebels were fighting the forces of the Soviet Union.
Quoting a source from the state-owned arms manufacturer SDPR, the newspaper said Osama 'walked in unannounced on June 25, 1986, and simply said 'I want to buy that and that',' the unnamed source said.
Bin Laden's 'wish list' included anti-aircraft missiles, machine guns, mobile radar units, ammunition for rifles and machine guns, as well as communications and jamming gear, all intended for the resistance of Soviet troops in Afghanistan.
He reportedly offered 100 million dollars in cash for the purchase, but without any paperwork or recorded official meetings, the source said.
'Talks ended before they began. Yugoslavia had strong positions in the global weapons trade, with ... significant profits, so Bin Laden's offer was not too difficult to resist,' the source said.
The Blic report is a follow-up on Sunday's story by Croatia's daily Vecernji List, which produced a document, market 'military secret' and 'top secret,' on Osama's attempt at buying weapons.
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