A Russian citizen was arrested by officials in Georgia for trying to sell weapons grade uranium to agents whom he thought were Islamic terrorists. The
amount he was trying to sell was only 100g, not enough material for a bomb, but he claimed he could obtain more -- enough to make a small nuclear
bomb. United States and Russian authorities cooperated in the sting operation.
today.reuters.co.uk
TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian special services have foiled an attempt by a Russian citizen to sell weapons-grade uranium for $1 million (508,000
pounds) to agents he thought were radical Islamists, a senior Interior Ministry official said on Thursday.
The official said Oleg Khintsagov, a resident of Russia's North Ossetia region, was arrested on February 1 2006 and a closed court soon after
convicted him to 8 1/2 years in prison.
Khintsagov was detained as he tried to sell uranium-235 to an undercover Georgian agent posing as a member of a radical Islamist group, said Shota
Utiashvili, who heads the ministry's information and analytical department.
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Very, very troublesome. There have been several busts of black market trade in radioactive materials, and there most likely many more that have gone
through undetected.
Related News Links:
www.nytimes.com
[edit on 1/25/2007 by djohnsto77]
[edit on 25-1-2007 by UM_Gazz]