A Nigerian officer serving with the United Nations forces in Lebanon, Lt. Col. Alfred Gom, was sentenced yesterday by a Jerusalem magistrate’s court to 15 years’ imprisonment for smuggling weapons into Israel in the service of the Palestine Liberation Organization and other illegal activities. He was deported last night.
Israeli authorities reportedly wanted a quick settlement of the affair which has soured relations with the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Gom, who was arrested by Israeli security forces last June 15, was found guilty of arms smuggling, assisting the enemy, and having contacts with foreign agents.
He was apprehended as a result of what appeared to be an accident. But the circumstances indicated that he was under suspicion even though he was allowed to cross the Lebanese border into Israel in a car later found to be carrying a small arsenal of weapons intended for the PLO.
Gom was stopped at a roadblock on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway. A car. behind him bumped into his rear. Israeli troops appeared suddenly and ordered him to drive to the Beit Shemesh police station. There, a search of the luggage compartment yielded submachineguns, extra barrels, ammunition for Kalatchnikov automatic rifles, hand grenades, explosives and other equipment. Documents were also discovered linking Gom to EI Fatah.
The court rejected Gom’s claim that the Weapons Were planted in his trunk by Israeli security agents. The presiding judge said the Nigerian officer had become involved in a conflict that had nothing to do with him in return for money and women.
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