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July 2, 2009

Lebanonwire

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Lebanese man gets 25 years prison for weapons deal

NEW YORK - A Lebanese man convicted of agreeing to sell millions of dollars of weapons to leftist guerrillas in Colombia was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday.

Tareq Mousa al Ghazi, 62, was accused of taking part in the weapons deal with Monzer al-Kassar, a Syrian who was convicted of terrorism charges and sentenced in February. The deal turned out to be a U.S.-backed sting operation that stretched from Lebanon to Spain and Romania.

Ghazi was found guilty in federal court in March of three of four charges he faced, including conspiring to kill U.S. officers and conspiring to acquire anti-aircraft missiles.

During the trial, prosecutors said Ghazi took part in the deal thinking the weapons would go to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and believed they would be used to kill Americans seeking to disrupt the cocaine trade.

He was arrested in mid-2007 in Romania with a third man, Felipe Moreno Godoy. Kassar, who prosecutors called one of the world's most prolific arms dealers, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Moreno Godoy was sentenced to 25 years. -Reuters

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