The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, January 10, 2013 - 7A
British man sentenced for
attempted missile sale
Businessman tried
to sell U.S. weapon
parts to Iran
EL PASO, Texas (AP) - A
federal judge sentenced a Brit-
ish businessman to nearly three
years in prison Wednesday for
trying to buy surface-to-air
missile parts from undercover
U.S. agents to resell to Iran.
Christopher Tappin, 66,
pleaded guilty in November to
aiding and abetting to export
defense materials in a deal
that opened the door for him
to serve part of his sentence
in Britain near his ailing wife.
U.S. District Judge David Brio-
nes in El Paso said Wednesday
that he would recommend that
the U.S. Department of Justice
approve any request by Tappin
to be transferred to the United
Kingdom.
Tappin read a brief statement
during the sentencing hearing
in which he apologized for the
crime.
"I regret my actions and the
impact they had on my family,"
he said. "I am looking forward
to putting this incident behind
me and returning to my previ-
ous unblemished life and my
wife."
As part of the plea deal, pros-
ecutors agreed not to oppose
any request by Tappin to serve
part of his 33-month sentence
in Britain. Along with approval
from the Department of Jus-
tice, Tappin also needs approval
from the British government to
serve time in one of its prisons.
In 2006, Tappin associ-
ate Robert Gibson contacted a
company set up by undercover
U.S. agents to buy batteries for
surface-to-air missiles. U.S.
authorities alleged Tappin pro-
vided undercover agents with
false documents to deceive
authorities and circumvent the
requirement for the batteries to
be licensed by the U.S. govern-
ment before being exported.
"We hope this sends a mes-
sage to people that are selling
defense materials that we moni-
tor sales and shipments, and
that we are watching," federal
prosecutor Greg McDonald said
Wednesday.
The judge dismissed charges
of conspiracy to illegally export
defense articles and conspira-
cy to conduct illegal financial
transactions. Tappin must also
pay an $11,357 fine, the amount
he would have profited from the
sale.
Tappin must report to prison
by March 8. His lawyers asked
that he be allowed to report to a
Pennsylvania prison, something
the judge said he did not oppose.
Tappin will likely spend six to
nine months in the United States
before being sent back to Britain,.
Tappin's attorney, Dan Cogdell,
said. There, he will serve no
more than half of the remaining
sentence, Cogdell said.
"I look forward to returning
home to be near my friends and
family, and especially my sick
wife," Tappin said afterward.
Tappin fought extradition
to the' United States for two
years until being denied a peti-
tion to take the case to Britain's
Supreme Court. His extradition
touched a nerve in Britain among
those who believe extradition
arrangements with the United
States are unfairly weighted
against British citizens.
After he was brought to Texas
in February, Tappin was held at
the Otero County Jail for about
two months, where he initially
was put in solitary confinement
at his request. Tappin was later
released on bond in April and
has since lived near his lawyer's
house in a gated community in
Houston.
Gibson, another British
national, pleaded guilty in April
2007 and was sentenced to 24
months in prison. An Oregon
man, Robert Caldwell, was found
guilty in July of that year and
received a 30-month sentence.
ROSS D. FRANtLIN/AP
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio speaks with the media talking about the Sheriff's new program providing security
around schools in his jurisdiction, at Anthem Elementary School.
rme olunteers to atrol
59 schools in Arizona
As many as 500
Volunteers to guard
areas near schools
PHOENIX (AP) - The sher-
iff for metropolitan Phoenix has
launched a plan to have as many
as 500 armed volunteers patrol
areas just outside schools in an
effort to guard against shootings
like month's attack at a Connecti-
cut elementary school that left 26
people'dead.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe
Arpaio's office said Wednesday
that the patrols were launched
earlier this week at 59 schools in
unincorporated areas and com-
munities that pay his agency for
police services.
Arpaio hopes to have as many
as 400 posse volunteers and
another 100 volunteers known as
reserve deputies take part in the
patrols.
The plan from the sheriff
known for immigration enforce-
ment and housing jail inmates in
canvas tents has led some long-
time critics to say Arpaio's latest
effort is meant to grab headlines
and won't be sustained over the
long term.
"Why would people complain
about my posse being in front
of schools to act as prevention?"
Arpaio asked, noting that he
wants the patrols to last through-
out the remainder of the school
year.
The sheriff said school shoot-
ings in Connecticut and else-
where and last month's arrest of
an Arizona student accused of
planning an attack at her high
school led to his decision to
launch the patrols.
The volunteers, dressed in
uniforms and driving patrol
vehicles, won't go onto school
grounds unless they spot danger
and won't sit in stationary spots.
Instead, they'll patrol several
schools as part of their driving
routes.
Andrew Sanchez, a town
council member in Guadalupe,
said he doesn't want the sheriff's
posse members patrolling outside
schools in his town. The commu-
nity of about 6,000 spends $1.2
million a year to have Arpaio's
office provide police protection.
"We are paying him to have
certified deputies here, not to
bring a circus and not to use our
town as a political platform,"
Sanchez said.
He predicted the volunteer
patrols would disappear once
media attention had faded.
Distrust of Arpaio in Guada-
lupe runs deep after the sheriff's
deputies poured into the town
during one of his first trademark
immigration sweeps in April
2008.
During the crackdowns, depu-
ties surge into an area of a city
- in some cases, heavily Latino
areas - to seek out traffic viola-
tors and arrest other offenders
over several days.
Arpaio announced his plans
Wednesday on the grounds of
an elementary school, saying he
wants the patrols publicized.
"I want everyone to know
aboutit for the deterrence effect,"
he said.
The announcement came on
the same day that the tbp Demo-
crat in the Arizona House put
forth a proposal to triple funding
for school resource officers, add
money for mental health treat-
ment and require background
checksonallbuyers atgunshows.
Arpaio said no taxpayer money
would be spent on the patrols and
volunteers will be supervised by
radio or phone by deputies.
Joselyn Wells, the mother
of three children at a school in
suburban Anthem, where Arpa-
io's posse members have begun
patrolling, said she was excited to
hear about the initiative.
"A lot of people sit around
and watch these things happen,
watch key signs and no one wants
to do anything about it," she said.
"Nobody wants conflict, nobody
wants to be out in the limelight.
And he doesn't care. He wants to
do the right thing."
Arpaio has relied heavily on
his posse, which consist of about
3,000 unpaid civilians, including
action-film star Steven Seagal.
They assist deputies in duties
such as providing free police pro-
tection at malls during the holi-
days, directing traffic at wreck
scenes and transporting to jail
the people who are arrested in
immigration patrols. One group
of posse members conducted an
examination into the authentic-
ity of President Barack Obama's
birth certificate.
Members wear uniforms and
can get authorized to carry a
gun after fraining, though only
400 can actually carry guns.
They can make arrests only at
the direction of a deputy sheriff.
Posse operations generally don't
receive taxpayer money -and
instead are funded through con-
tributions and dues paidby posse
members.
The reserve deputies who will
join posse members in the school
patrols have all the training and
powers of a regular law enforce-
ment officer but aren't paid for
their police work.
Monica Allread, spokeswom-
an for the Tempe Elementary
School District, which includes
an elementary school in Guada-
lupe, shied away from comment-
ing on Arpaio's new plan. But she
said the district aims to improve
safety at its schools.
Egyptian party elects leader
after months of infighting'
Salafi Al-Nour
party sets sights on
winning seats in
parliament
CAIRO (AP) - Egypt's larg-
est ultraconservative Islamist
party, which has emerged as
a potent political force in the
country, elected a new leader
Wednesday after the previous
head broke away to form his
own political group following
months of infighting.
Younis Makhyoun, a 58-year-
old cleric and trained dentist,
was selected in a consensus
vote to lead the Salafi Al-Nour
party, one of several religion-
based parties to take root after
the 201 Egyptian uprising. His
election marks the consolida-
tion of power within the party
of the religious clerics who co-
founded Al-Nour and success-
fully faced down a challenge to
separate the group's political
and religious leadership.
The infighting could cost the
Salafis in upcoming parliamen-
tary elections as they compete
with fellow Islamists for seats
in the legislature and try to
shape Egypt's future in a politi-
cal struggle with secular-mind-
ed political groups.
Egyptian President Moham-
med Morsi is expected to set
a date soon for the elections.
His spokesman, Yasser Ali,
told reporters Wednesday that
preparations for the vote would
begin Feb. 25.
In taking the reins of the
party, Makhyoun immediately
turned his sights Wednesday to
the elections. He described the
next parliament as "the most
dangerous and the most impor-
tant" in Egypt's history because
its mission will be "to purify
all laws from whatever violates
Shariah," or Islamic law.
Makhyoun was a member of
the Islamist-dominated con-
stituent assembly that wrote
Egypt's new constitution. The
document deeply polarized
Egyptians and sparked deadly
street protests, but passed by a
64 percent "yes" vote in a ref-
erendum in which around 33
percent of voters participated.
Islamists perceive the consti-
tution as the first step toward
redefining Egypt's identity to
conform to Islamic law..
"We want to liberate Egypt
from slavery and submission,"
Makhyoun said Wednesday,
while also trying to assuage
fears of women and Christians
by saying Shariah would "liber-
ate even Western women from
the West's moral decay."
Al-Nour was founded by a
group of influential hardline
Salafi clerics shortly after the
2011 Egyptian uprising that
toppled longtime strongman
Hosni Mubarak. Their single-
minded dedication to apply-
ing Islamic law sets them
apart from Egypt's strongest
Islamist force, the Muslim
Brotherhood, which shares
many of the Salafi fundamen-
talist beliefs but also has a his-
tory of political pragmatism to
achieve its ends.
Salafis follow the Wahhabi
school of thought, which pre-
dominates in SaudiArabia. They
promote a strict interpretation
of Islamic law which mandates
segregation of the sexes, bans
banks from charging interest
and punishes theft by cutting
off thieves' hands.
Pakistani NATO suppliers on
strike in light of poor conditions
Troops in
Afghanistan now
use longer, more
expensive route
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP)
- Truckers who carry supplies
to NATO troops in Afghanistan
have gone on strike in northwest
Pakistan to protest lower pay,
inadequate security and cor-
rupt officials who demand bribes
from the truckers, officials said
Wednesday.
The supply route is an impor-
tant lifeline for international
forces in landlocked Afghanistan.
The coalition ships a significant
portion of its nonlethal supplies
through Pakistan into south-
ern Afghanistan. The other land
route into Afghanistan through
Central Asia and Russia is longer
and more expensive.
The strike began in response
to the government's decision to
require truckers to go through
authorized companies to carry
NATO supplies instead of making
individual deals with the govern-
ment-run National Logistics Cell,
said Jehanzeb Khan, head of a
transport workers union in north-
west Pakistan. The companies pay
the truckers less, said Khan.
He also claimed the govern-
ment was not providing adequate
protection to the drivers from
Taliban attacks, and each truck
had to pay corrupt security offi-
cials about $165 in bribes to pass
through the Khyber tribal area
on the way to the border.
Khan said truckers in north-
west Pakistan stopped carrying
NATO supplies Wednesday, and
he was reaching out to others
throughout the country to get
them to join the strike.
Haneef Khan Marwat, head of
a transportation company in the
southern city of Karachi, said
some truckers began their strike
as early as Jan. 4 and thousands
of vehicles are involved. He said
the strike would continue until
the government reversed its new
policy.
No trucks carrying NATO
supplies crossed the northwest
Torkham border on Wednesday,
said local political official Tahir
Khan.
Torkham is one of two cross-
ings used to ship NATO supplies
to Afghanistan.
Goods continued to move
through the other crossing, Cha-
man, in southwest Pakistan,
said clearing agent Mohammed
Asghar.
Pakistan closed its Afghan
border to NATO supplies for
seven months in response to
U.S. airstrikes that accidentally
killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in
November 2011. Pakistan finally
reopened the route after the U.S.
apologized for the deaths.
Also Wednesday, police said
they arrested five Pakistani
Taliban militants involved in the
killing of two female polio work-
ers in the southern city of Kara-
chi in December. Senior police
official Ghulam Shabbir Shaikh
told reporters that the five mili-
tants are from the northwest
Swat Valley and confessed to
their participation in the killings,
saying they believed the polio
vaccine was meant to make Mus-
lim children sterile.