Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / June 16, 1979, edition 1 / Page 8
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i-TTFCOUN TIMES SAT.. JUNE 111971 . . v ma mM ft m n ... )- J -v - L A Weekly Digest of African Affairs 0 0 0 4 -U.S.Zimbabwe U.S. Official Fooled Ob Helicopter Sale . AnRhodesia's acquisi tion last year of eleven Agusta Bell helicopters represented an important boost for the war effort against the Patriotic Front. The Bell 205 A, a civilian version of the UH I Hueys which saw heavy action during the U.S. in volvements in Vietnam, have a longer range and larger troop-carrying capacity than the other helicopters Rhodesia has managed to smuggle in. A U.S. government in- "An optimist is always broke." Kin Hubbard vestigationjnto how the American'-licensed aircraft were obtained was launch' ed after the disclosure of the sale last December, but no details have yet been released. Con tributing n editor Charlie Cobb 'frqs 'also been in vestigatingfi'rand in the following report he reveals that he has learned to date about haw Hhe deal was made and how U.S. of ficials failed to stop it. WASHINGTON. DC According to. State and . Commerce Department ' sources, a small Singapore company, Jamson Avia-' tion and Spares, (Private).; Ltd., and a small Por tuguese shipping i f irrri, Aerofrete of Lisbon, were, responsible for smuggling the eleven Bell helicopters into Rhodesia last year. 1 The two companies; i have been the target, pf . & government investigation ' since December. Com merce Department -officials claim they were fooled into approving the sale of the helicopters to Jamson in May of 1978. The whole story actual ly begins in Israel, where early last year the Defense Ministry decided to look for buyers of the older BeH helicopters in use by its air force. The par ticular aircraft in question has been purchased by the Israelis form Agusta Bell in Italy in 1968, where they are manufactured under license from the Texas-based Bell Helicopter Company. Enter Air Associates of Skokie, Illinois, a firm that describes itself as "the world's market place for helicopters." As a ma jor trader in used aircraft. Air Associates launched discusions ' with Israel when the firm learned of the Defense Ministry's decision to upgrade its , helicopter fleet. During' these discus sions Air Associates was contacted by Jamson Aviation. Lacking a license of its own to buy U.S. military helicopters, Jamson wanted Air Associates, a properly ac-. credited dealer, to pur chase the Israeli helicopters and convert them into civilian craft. Jamson proposed that it would then buy the air craft and deliver them to a customer in Indonesia, who in turn wanted to use the helicopters in a logging operation in the North. Moluccan Islands. This bargain a "straight deal' in the words of one Air Associates official was the sale that both the Commerce Department and the Israeli government ; say they approved. .According to an Air Associates source, the israeli government insisted that the Commerce Department check thoroughly on Jamson. Some State and Com merce Department of ficials, however, privately acknowledged that the in quiry into Jamson's inten- . " . '. ' . -,. ' . !.- ' m '.. - . - .: . - -' iiiiiiifiii i-imsiij . : I 11. Iff llliiilliilll 1 i lilt il: :l':-l 1 ; M;:mm:iSmmMmn ' mk i li'iwiiiiiiiwii t ?Nrr: 11 s s mmmmmm9M wm , , . ' riiiiiiiiiiliiiiilii -'I If ' , iMIiplillllliilil' ; fth Al 1 :;:c;:.;; " ' I cSil" ;il:llllllllllil! ', r ! m , ' . ' ' -' I -h : ' v Vi -v i'J--. ;i i 1 n mi i MiiminrmniwinrTTi i Kraft Contributes $125,000 To UNCF Attending a recent kickoff breakfast of the UNC iHnols Capital Fund Campaign in Chicago are, from lefty John H. Johnson, presient 0 Johnson Publishing Company and member of UNCF Board of Dirwtorst WIIHanfO, Beers, Chaiman and chief executive officer of Kraft Inc., and chairman of UNCF IUinoIs CapltaJ Fund Cam paign; Thomas Murphy, chairman of General Motors and general chairruarrof tiie UNCF Capital Fund Campaign; and Criss Edley, executive director pf UNCI1 . - , i, ' " . ill. :' ,-y.V '! ivn;j.i,.iu; : , u. i ' . . fiir tions were not very thorough. The investigation failed, for example, to turn up an arrangement Jamson had made with Afrofrete of Portugal to lease the Ger man made ship the Hart ford Express. That ar rangement was suspicious because the Hartford Ex press is not approved to engage in traffic outside the Atlantic Ocean and the. Mediteranean Sea. The ship Jamson ap parently intended to use, than, could not legally go to Singapore, according to Lloyd's of London. In fact, according to a source in the firm that built, the ship, Oskar. Wehr a Company, of - Hamburg, Germany, the ) Hartford Express is used to haul fruit around theMediter ' ranean. ; '??:r. ' If there were suspensions about; these arrangements between - Jamson and Aerofrete they were not pursued. But Commerce I ill" !: I Ve worked hard to rst Tvhere I am. lhatwhyIsacazchoia. It hasn't been easy. Putting myself through A. . 11 . JJ . X. cpiiege ana men grauuaic school taught me the value of a dollar.. And now that I'm on my own, I have a good job', a fine apartment, a nice car, and a pay check that can be spent all too easily if I m not careful, but I ve always known I need to save some of that money. To put some aside . . : for things like car repairs, weekend trips, and vacations. So I looked for a bank that would give me what I want. High interest oh my savings convenient branches clos6 by, and friendly people who'll take the time to helpme. ' That's why I chose Wachovia. : There's an office right here in my neighborhood and one downtown where I work The tellers are . friendly, and my savings earn 5 daily interest. But best of all , there is someone I Can call any time about my savings account and whose advice I can trust. My Personal Banker. Right now I have good reasons to save. . And very good reasons to save at Wachovia. Wachovia BankTrusr;.' .pi- V: r"! LJy if 1- rj ; ' wl tig la J I u s wis h sin x ri i grtO x'. AllrtuMIff.ft ,IM1 V s $ S,IH. V , s , - f N . u -. &wl : --fA A w -jr mL. - X J 1 ... . .mJ,JMamif.J -ti--miii 0- t rnmmmi 1 . bepartmerit1 sources ,do acknowledge that because Jamson and Aerofrete contracted for the Hart fo'rd Express before disetiisiohs with Air Assdciates1 began, they believe that Air Associates wire riot involved in plans to smuggle the helicopters to Rhodesia. Jamson and Aerofrete, on' the other hand; are suspected of conspiring" to deliver the helicopters to Rhodesia from the very beginning of the transaction with Air Associates." ' tittle is known about Aerofrete. There have beeri'reports that the com pany's head, '. Alphonso Riegosa, has in the past been ; involved in some Smuggling operations with a Rhodesian 'businessman, Ed Muller; Whd is current ly iri Jail In Hhodesian for currency ' fcoritrtl Viola-ti6ris;;i':-f' . between May1 and August of last year a com pahy tailed Cyclone Avia tion Which regularly works with "Air 1 Associates in Israel converted the military" helicopters into civilian ' ; ; aircraft. Camouflage painting and rtiilitaty" markings were takeh off the helicopters, artnaments were also removed.1- -Irt August, -Air Associates' "was given a let ter of Credit for $4 million by Jamson in payment for tr& helicopters: They were loaded on the Hartford Express' at Haifa' Port in ISraeland 'set sail for South 'Africa on August IS; 1 ; ' . Early in the morning on Sejitember 6 the ship stop 'ped at Las Palmas in the Canary Islands to pick up Hip kpproximately eighty thousand dollars worth of spate mparts flown in by Aerofrete. From' Las Palmas the Hartford Ex press .when' to Durban, South ' Africa, where the helicopters wer unloaded artd shipped by truck to titvf1- Sarum airbase in 1 Rhodesia There they were reconverted into military aircraft. Jamson iviation-ls managing 1 director, Richard Kwik, has been unavailable for comment despite repeated ' calls .. When questioned by State Department officials, Kwik did deny any in volvement in smuggling 'the helicopters into Rhodesia. He Said his In donesian deal fell through ''and that he arranged the ! sale of the helicopters to a Panamanian company. . , JBut. whcn U.S. officials i checked, .jjfiey ; discovered rt tmuiai loc rauttiuauiaii cum- V-l,,, M,- .. l jSl" ... O' pany ,cua noi exisi. since ' ' then HKwik has left Singapore. . Riegosa of Aerofrete was reached by phone, but refused to comment to AFRICA NEWS and eventually hung up. Riegosa "then called the German owners of the Harford Express threaten ing" legal action if they discussed Aerofrete's lease of the ships. v , The Commerce Depart ment says its investigation , is continuing but that it : has been stymied in its ef forts ; to trace the com plicated financial records of the deal. ' In Rhodesia, one of the Bell helicopters has crash ed since December, kill ings its poorly trained i; crew. I ne remaining ten helicopters' are grounded (Sending additional train ng of personnel.
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June 16, 1979, edition 1
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