Israel Matzav

4 people charged in New York with running drugs, weapons for Hezbullah, Taliban

Four people have been charged in New York with running drugs and arms for the Taliban and Hezbullah.

The charges highlighted "the growing nexus between drug trafficking and terrorism," Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara told reporters.

In the operation targeting Hezbollah, two of the men told people secretly working for the US anti-drug agency that they wanted to purchase anti-aircraft missiles and handguns for the group, court documents said.

The men, Cetin Aksu and Bachar Wehbe, were charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a known terrorist group. Aksu, a Turkish Kurd, was arrested in Bucharest, Romania on Monday. Wehbe, a Lebanese national, was in custody in Manhattan.

Siavosh Henareh, an Iranian Kurd residing in Romania, also was arrested in the operation in Bucharest on Monday. He faces drug charges after offering to sell heroin to the US agents, court papers said. He faces a minimum of 10 years in prison if convicted.

Aksu and Wehbe also face heroin distribution charges. Each faces a minimum of 25 years in prison if convicted.

In a separate operation, US officials charged an Afghan man, Taza Gul Alizai, with selling heroin and weapons to a US law-enforcement source posing as a member of the Taliban, which the US considers a terrorist organization.

Alizai faces narco-terrorism and drug distribution charges, He faces a minimum of 20 years in prison if convicted. He was arrested on Monday and is in custody in Manhattan.

You will note that two of the people arrested were Kurds. Lately, I have written some posts calling for the establishment of a state of Kurdistan, and I have been contacted by people in that area who read my blog. I stand by those posts.

I have no idea whether the two people arrested just happen to be Kurds, or whether they are connected to the PKK or other Kurdish revolutionary forces. I hope that they just happened to be Kurds and are not connected to the Kurdish revolutionary forces.

The Kurdish people have to decide whether they are with Israel, and want Israel to help open the West to them, or whether they are with the likes of Hezbullah and the Taliban. They cannot have it both ways.

Labels: Hezbullah, Iranian Kurds, Kurdistan, Taliban, Turkish Kurds

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:27 PM