Bulgaria arrests Iraqi man on suspicions of illegal arms trade

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Bulgarian authorities said Saturday they had arrested an Iraqi man wanted in Germany on suspicions he tried to procure weapons for the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Sahib Abd al-Amir al-Haddad, 59, was arrested Nov. 25 after arriving at the Sofia airport from Turkey, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Marusia Toshkova told The Associated Press.

Toshkova said that al-Haddad was arrested on an Interpol warrant issued in Germany. He remained in custody in Sofia pending a court hearing on his extradition, which must take place no later than 40 days after his arrest.

The arrest was first reported Saturday by the German news weekly, Der Spiegel, which said al-Haddad was arrested on an international warrant issued by prosecutors in Mannheim, Germany.

According to Der Spiegel, prosecutors suspect the man of violating German arms export laws by attempting to buy drilling equipment and parts for MiG jets.

Al-Haddad and another suspect, a German engineer, also allegedly tried to buy large numbers of rockets, machine-guns and anti-aircraft guns for Iraq.

The German engineer, identified by prosecutors in September as Bernd S., was charged last August with helping supply Iraq with technology for a long-range cannon and equipment for military jets, breaking German export law as well as the U.N. arms embargo on the country.

German prosecutors believe the equipment was sent to Iraq in 1999 by a German trading firm via Jordan to conceal the shipments' true destination.

Iraq last year dismissed the allegations as part of a plot inspired by Israel and the United States.

Another suspect -- an employee of an unidentified German engineering firm -- has also been charged in connection with the alleged deliveries.

Arms deliveries to Baghdad have been banned by a U.N. resolution passed after the Gulf War in 1991.