|
| NEW YORK, July 27 — A fugitive U.S. defense scientist wanted on charges of smuggling nuclear weapons components to Israel is under arrest in Spain, a development that could prove a major embarrassment for both Israel and a billionaire Hollywood producer. Richard Kelly Smyth, a retired 71-year-old aerospace scientist, was arrested July 10 in Malaga and now awaits extradition to the United States. |
|
SMYTH,
A FORMER science adviser to the U.S. Air Force, disappeared in August
1985 after his indictment, leaving federal investigators unable to
prove his role in the illegal shipment of 800 nuclear weapons
triggers to Israeli companies owned by Arnon Milchan, a Hollywood
producer and industrialist with dual citizenship in Israel and
Monaco.
Smyth fled the United States five months after being indicted by a
federal grand jury in Los Angeles on 15 counts of exporting nuclear
arms technology and 15 counts of falsification of documents from 1979
to 1982. Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid and the U.S.
attorney’s office in Los Angeles said Smyth was in a Spanish
jail while the United States prepared an extradition
“package” that would take months to complete.
“All we can say is that he is in custody in Spain and we are
delighted,” Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs Service,
when asked about Smyth’s arrest.
THE HOLLYWOOD CONNECTION
Federal officials have long
sought a way to revisit the case involving Milchan, whose producing
credits include “JFK,” “L.A. Confidential”
“Brazil,” “Fight Club,” and “Pretty
Woman,” as well as the “Free Willy” series and the Fox
television comedy “Malcolm in the Middle.” The 1985
indictment identified Milchan’s companies as the recipient of
the nuclear triggers, known as krytrons. Federal authorities told NBC
News in 1993 that Milchan also shared in the profits derived from the
sales. Krytrons, at the time, were considered “dual use”
components — which have other civilian and military applications
— requiring export licenses.
Internal documents obtained at that time by NBC News from Milco
International Inc., Smyth’s company, revealed that he had also
exported other equipment to Israel, including chemicals used to make
missile fuel. Both the krytrons and the chemicals in question are
so-called “dual use” items.
But Smyth’s disappearance, and the unwillingness of Israeli
officials to cooperate with U.S. investigators on the case, left
federal authorities unable to proceed. Nowhere, that is, until Smyth
turned up in Spain.
U.S. officials say Milchan has
no exposure to any smuggling charge, as the statute of limitations on
conduct dating from before 1982 has expired. However, customs
officials, who requested anonymity, said anyone can be prosecuted for
obstruction of justice if evidence shows that he or she aided or in
any way encouraged Smyth to flee. Because Smyth fled after being
indicted, the smuggling charges against him are still active, and no
statute of limitations applies.
Milchan has denied that he had done anything illegal in interviews
with NBC News in 1992 and 1993. Friday, his Los Angeles office said
he was traveling and could not be reached for comment in the wake of
Smyth’s arrest.
‘ANYWAY I CAN HELP ISRAEL, I WILL’
However, in interviews with
both “60 Minutes” and Los Angeles magazine over the past
year, Milchan was less circumspect. In Los Angeles magazine, he said:
“Let’s assume that there’s nothing that Israel and the
United States do separately. ... I’ll say it in my own words. I
love Israel, and any way I can help Israel, I will. I’ll do it
again and again.
“If you say I am an arms dealer, that’s your problem. In
Israel, there is practically no business that does not have something
to do with defense.”
Israel has never publicly admitted that it possesses nuclear weapons.
However, U.S. intelligence agencies estimate that Israel’s
arsenal is the fifth largest in the world, with about 200 warheads,
behind those of the United States, Russia, France and China.
The Israeli nuclear issue frequently has caused problems for the
United States in its efforts to curb the proliferation of nuclear and
ballistic missile technology in other regions and to get nations like
India, Pakistan and North Korea to adhere to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty. Arab states, among others, accuse
Washington of a double standard for not putting similar pressure on
Israel to sign the treaty, which would require declaring the extent
of nuclear capabilities and opening nuclear sites to international
inspection.
Robert Windrem is an
investigative producer at NBC News and co-author with William E.
Burrows of “Critical Mass: The Dangerous Race for Superweapons
in a Fragmenting World” (1994, Simon & Schuster, New York).
MSNBC’s Michael Moran contributed to this report.
