By Raphael G. Satter
London - A British millionaire who sent 15 amphibious personnel carriers to Sudan was imprisoned on Wednesday for breaking a government arms embargo.
Businessman Andrew Jackson, 46, had pleaded guilty to flouting a British ban on exporting items which could be used by the Sudanese military to wage war in Darfur, where more than 300 000 people have been killed in the government's campaign against ethnic African rebels.
On Wednesday, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith sentenced him to two years and eight months in prison for breaching British trade restrictions, noting that he had been repeatedly warned not to export the vehicles to Sudan.
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"You decided to sell 15 of these carriers to a company in that war-torn country," he told Jackson. "While you may have hoped they would be used for civilian purposes you knew of their military capacity."
A United Nations arms embargo was imposed on Sudan and the rebel groups fighting there in 2005, although the international organisation has accused both sides of repeatedly violating its restrictions.
Britain's Press Association news agency said that Jackson's company, L. Jackson and Company, sent a batch of Hagglund BV206 half tracks to Sudan by way of Norway, although it did not say precisely when. The vehicles are described on the company's Web site as military-grade personnel and equipment carriers now commonly used for oil exploration, arctic expeditions and mountain rescue.
Although prosecutor Thomas Kark acknowledged that the vehicles were apparently due to be used hunting for oil in Sudan's southern marshes, he noted that energy revenues have reportedly helped fuel the fighting in Darfur.
"Half track vehicles are plainly capable of being used in an offensive way," Kark said. "Whether these vehicles were in fact ultimately going to be used directly against civilians, or to assist in providing the revenue which oil would provide may not, in fact, make a dramatic difference."
A person who picked up the phone at L. Jackson and Company said the company would not be commenting on the case on Wednesday. He declined to identify himself, saying he did not want his name to appear in the press. - Sapa-AP
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