Report: Weldon in Russian Arms Deals with Libya, Iraq

By Jeff Stein | July 3, 2008 6:34 PM | | Comments (0)

Wired.com's Sharon Weinberger has the story.

"Former congressman Curt Weldon is helping broker deals between Russian and Ukranian weapons suppliers and the Iraqi and Libyan governments as part of his new job with a private American defense consulting firm," says Weinberger, author of A Nuclear Family Vacation: Travels in the World of Atomic Weaponry.

The former Pennsylvania Republican had no comment, she says.

Weldon did not respond to e-mails and phone requests to be interviewed or comment for this article. But in a 2006 interview, before the FBI probe was public, Weldon spoke enthusiastically about setting up a "front company" to work with the Russian arms agency, Rosoboronexport. Weldon hoped this company could sell weapons to the Middle East, and other regions, particularly to countries where the U.S. has strained relations. He claimed the director of Rosoboronexport approached him to work with "an American company that would act as a front for weapons these nations want to buy."

Weldon, she said, called the proposal back then an "unbelievable offer."

Tags: Iraq, Libya, Russia, Ukraine, Weldon

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