fwd Rifles

[Otto]

Douglas Lannark sends this:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/14/wiran114.xml


We are not responsible for rifles, says Austria

Last Updated: 2:27am GMT 14/02/2007

Austria yesterday washed its hands of any responsibility after it was
revealed that powerful sniper rifles it sold to Iran had been acquired by
insurgents in Iraq.

The Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday that American troops had recovered
more than 100 Steyr HS50 Mannlicher rifles, part of a consignment of 800
sold to Iran by Austria last year, during a series of raids in Iraq.

Astrid Harz, a spokesman for the Austrian foreign ministry, said yesterday
that the sale had been "checked very thoroughly" and what happened to the
rifles after they were delivered to Teheran ostensibly for use by border
police was not the responsibility of her government. It was the
responsibility of the Iranians, she said.

Franz Holzschuh, Steyr's chief executive, said the company had not been
contacted by anyone officially to verify the serial numbers on the rifles.
He said it was possibile that the weapons were copies.

The Austrian government concluded in 2004 that the.50 rifles, capable of
piercing all types of body armour, would be used to fight drug smugglers.
But American and British officials had warned that the weapons could fall
into the hands of insurgents.