The Celtic League are pressing Isle of Man Chief Minister, Tony Brown, to clarify contradictions between a statement he made about Manx links to alleged international arms dealer Victor Bout and an article which appeared in the Irish media some years ago.

The Chief Minister said there were no links between Bout and the Isle of Man whereas the article in the Irish Examiner (dated February 2002) suggests otherwise,

Victor Bout is currently in prison in Thailand fighting an extradition warrant issued by the United States. US authorities are seeking Bouts extradition on terrorism related charges. Bout is countering these claims alleging that he is not an arms dealer and the US has framed him.

Bout, sometimes dubbed the "Merchant of Death" by the media, is thought to be the model for the arms dealer portrayed by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 movie "Lord of War". The media have linked him to some of Africa's most notorious conflicts, alledging the supplying of arms to former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

For his part he has repeatedly denied any involvement in illicit activities and has never been prosecuted, despite being the subject of U.N. sanctions and a travel ban.

The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries of north western Europe (Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales). It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It targets human rights abuse and monitors all military activity within these areas

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#Hon J A Brown MHK Chief Minister Isle of Man Government Government Buildings Douglas Isle of Man

07:03:09

Dear Chief Minister,

Ref: Victor Bout – Your correspondence December 2008

Thank you for your letter of the 10th December 2006 responding to our query of the 21 November in relation to this matter.

I note your comment:

"Finally, I have been advised that the Treasury is not aware of any evidence that any companies in the Island have been used by Mr Bout to facilitate his arms trading".

This statement is contradicted somewhat by a news report in the Irish Examiner newspaper dated February 8 2002 which says:

"Clanwilliam Terrace in Dublin 2 is an unlikely location to find a link to an international arms smuggling operation but the company registered at this address, Balcombe Investments Limited, owned aircraft used by Renan Airways of Moldova which regularly flew illegal arms to Africa."

The article goes on:

"Renan Airways colluded with another company, Central African Airlines - owned by former KGB officer Viktor Bout - to ship illegal arms to Sierra Leone, according to the UN Liberia report. Viktor Vasilevich Bout is more commonly known as Viktor B by law enforcement agencies because he uses at least five aliases and different versions of his last name. He was born in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, had air force training in Russia, and was a KGB officer before the Cold War ended.

He has set up airline companies throughout Eastern Europe and oversees a network of over 50 planes, several airline companies, cargo charter companies and freight-forwarding companies, many of which are involved in shipping illicit cargo.

The UN say Viktor Bout was the mastermind behind most illegal arms shipments to Africa many of which were carried by Renan Airways.

Balcombe Investments was first registered with the Irish Companies Office in 1992 by Dublin-based company formation agents, Larkin Nominees Ltd, who formed the company on behalf of an Isle of Man company, Portman Consultants Ltd. Balcombe was subsequently dissolved in 2000.

Company formation agents such as Larkin Nominees and Portman are not generally privy to the activities of their client companies and would have no knowledge of Balcombe's arms trade link. The day after Balcombe Investments was formed it got a new set of directors based in the Channel Islands and employed by Portman Consultants.

From then on Balcombe Investments essentially became a company of convenience which could be used to register aircraft in Moldova.

Until 1996, all papers and accounts for Balcombe Investments were presented to the company's office by Portman Consultants in the Isle of Man. In 1996, Portman closed and its companies were transferred to a new company Portman Consultants International operating from Malta."

The full Irish Examiner article can be found at:

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Notwithstanding your earlier statement can you confirm if the allegations in the Irish Examiner article are true or false?

Yours sincerely,

J B Moffatt"

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J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League 07/03/09

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