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Yair Klein
Yair Klein is an Israeli and a former lieutenant colonel in the Israeli army, who established a private mercenary company called Spearhead Ltd.
Through Spearhead Ltd, Klein provided arms and training to armed forces in South America.Democracy Now!, Who Is Israel's Yair Klein and What Was He Doing in Colombia and Sierra Leone?, June 1, 2000.
Klein and his company have been accused of training the death-squads of drug traffickers and right-wing militias in Colombia in the 1980s.
Klein was convicted by judicial authorities in Colombia for training several members of Colombian paramilitary groups and the militias of drug traffickers such as Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha and Pablo Escobar Gaviria in 1987.
Klein was convicted in 2001 by a Colombian court, and the Colombian government made unsuccessful attempts to obtain his extradition from Israel. In a 2007 interview with Caracol TV, Klein claimed that he was sent to Colombia by request of the National Police in order to train its members, and stated that he was willing to go back and help destroy the FARC guerrillas.
He also criticized the demobilization of the paramilitaries, saying it was "stupid" to do so while the guerrillas remained a threat.
Yair Klein spent 16 months in a Sierra Leone prison between 1999 and 2000 on charges that he was smuggling arms to rebels from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
Arrest Warrant
On April 3, 2007 Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for Yair Klein and two other Israeli collaborators, Melnik Ferri and Tzedaka Abraham, on charges of criminal conspiracy and instruction in terrorism. Israelis allegedly trained death squads, The Jerusalem Post, April 4, 2007
Arrest
Klein was captured by INTERPOL in Moscow, Russia on August 28, 2007. The government of Colombia and its president, Alvaro Uribe, asked for his extradition to Colombia. If extradited, Klein faces a 10 year and 8 months sentence in a Colombian prison, with a bail of 22 Colombian minimum salaries. Klein was formally accused by a Superior Tribunal in Manizales for participating in the training and doctrine of illegal paramilitary groups.
See also
Paramilitarism in Colombia
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
External links
Strategy Page, Israeli Mercenaries in South America, Strategy Page: Counter terrorism articles, August 15, 2007
Silvia B Cucovaz, The role of the "Grey Market" in the context of arms trafficking, UN Department of Disarmament Affairs
Democracy Now, '' Who Is Israel's Yair Klein and What Was He Doing in Colombia and Sierra Leone?, June 1, 2000.
James Rupert, Diamond Hunters Fuel Africas Brutal Wars'', The Washington Post, October 16, 1999
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Yair Klein
