Spain selling illegal weapons to West Africa, study says

BARCELONA, Spain (AP)-- Spain is responsible for the illegal sale of arms to West Africa, presumably with government approval, a conflict prevention specialist said Tuesday.

Since 1993 Spain has exported more than 101,000 missiles, worth 1.5 billion pesetas (dlrs 9.6 million/9 million euros) to Ghana, said Vicenc Fisas, who holds the title of UNESCO Chair on Peace and Human Rights at Barcelona's Autonomous University.

Ghana is one of 16 countries that signed a U.N. moratorium in October 1988 on the importation of small and light arms.

Fisas said he suspects the actual destination for part of the weapons shipment has been to nearby countries, in particular Sierra Leone and Liberia, two nations currently torn by civil war.

The grand quantity of arms sold to Ghana, gathered through customs data, makes it likely that the Spanish and Ghanaian governments had knowledge of such sales, Fisas added.

The type of missiles sold was not specified. In addition, it is unclear whether the weapons were fabricated by public or private arms manufacturers.

Fisas has requested that the Spanish parliament investigate the origin and destination of the arms sales.

Fisas' study released Monday adds to condemnations made in past weeks by the offices of various nongovernmental organizations in Spain, including Amnesty International, Greenpeace and Doctors without Borders, which denounce the lack of government transparency in data on arms sales.