German jailed for selling Scud missile parts to Iraq

FRANKFURT, Jan. 26 (JTA) — A court here has sentenced two German businessmen for illegally exporting Scud missile parts to Iraq in the late 1980s. Gerhard Paul was sentenced to 38 months in jail, and his colleague, Hans Georg Friedrich, received a two-year suspended sentence. Friedrich must also pay a $15,500 fine to the city of Darmstadt’s chapter of the Society for Christian-Jewish relations. The government is also confiscating $138,000 the company made in profits from sales to Iraq. Judge Rainer Buss said the two men continued the exports despite a growing threat to Israel from the rockets. He said they also ignored the negative impact of their sales on Germany’s relations with Israel. Israelis, forced to spend time in bomb shelters during the 1991 Gulf War because of Iraqi shelling, were outraged by reports that German companies aided Iraq’s military program. “Even today, this continues to play a role in the sensitive German-Israeli relationship,” said Buss. Both Paul and Friedrich were convicted of numerous violations of export regulations on military hardware to countries in sensitive political locations. From 1987 to 1990, the company owned by the two men delivered parts Iraq needed to fuel and start Scud missiles as well as increase their shooting range.