Bush and Putin swap praise over terror missile sting

United States President George Bush called Russian President Vladimir Putin today to swap praise over the international sting operation which foiled an attempt to sell a shoulder-launched missile to terrorists in the US, the Kremlin said.

The sting earlier this week resulted in the arrest of an alleged arms dealer from Britain who is accused by the US of arranging to sell the weapon, which could have been used to shoot down an airliner.

Putin’s press service said the two leaders “with satisfaction noted that the close cooperation in the fight against terrorism is yielding concrete results”.

Both leaders “highly appraised” the joint operation, the Kremlin said.

Hemant Lakhani, a British citizen of Indian descent, was arrested on Tuesday in New Jersey after the operation which US officials said began in December 2001 with a tip that he was seeking to buy weapons in St. Petersburg.

Lakhani agreed to deliver a shoulder-fired missile to US agents posing as buyers after he obtained it from Russian agents posing as sellers, American prosecutors said.

The missile, which officials said was intended to shoot down an airliner, was an inoperable copy brought from Russia to the United States to make the deal seem real.

The operation was carried out through joint efforts by the secret services of the United States, Russia, and Britain.

Russian analysts said the sting was more a chance to show off cooperation among former Cold War foes than a sign of real progress in halting weapons trafficking.

Putin and Bush also discussed Putin’s coming visit to the United States for a summit with Bush, scheduled for the end of September.