Businessmen held by US in plot to ship weapons

Four Asian businessmen created a threat to national security by plotting to buy hundreds of handguns, machine guns, sidewinder missiles and aviation radar equipment for export to Indonesia, US authorities said.

Four Asian businessmen created a threat to national security by plotting to buy hundreds of handguns, machine guns, sidewinder missiles and aviation radar equipment for export to Indonesia, US authorities said.

The men were arrested on Sunday after meeting in Hawaii with people they thought were representing a US company, which authorities say the men believed would provide the military hardware. It was to be shipped to Indonesia through Singapore.

Court papers did not

indicate whether the men were buying the equipment for the Indonesian government or whether it was a sting operation.

8216;8216;We consider this to be a serious and grave threat to our national security,8217;8217; US attorney Stephen Murphy III of Detroit said yesterday.

8216;8216;The agencies involved in the case worked hard to arrest individuals who were ready, willing and able to buy American weapons and take them outside the country.8217;8217;

The suspects were identified as Hadianto Djoko Djuliarso, 41, of Indonesia; Ibrahim Bin Amran, 46, of Singapore; and Ignatius Ferdinandus Soeharli and David Beecroft, whose ages and nationalities were not disclosed.

An indictment in detroit identified Djuliarso and Amran as owners of four businesses located in or doing business in Indonesia and Singapore. Soeharli financed the purchases and Beecroft attended the meeting in Hawaii to arrange shipment of the items, according to court papers.

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All four men were charged with conspiring to violate the US Arms Export Control Act, which is punishable by up to five years in prison and a US 250,000 fine. Djuliarso and Amran also were charged with violating export law and money laundering.

EU against using term 8216;Islamisc terrorism8217;

LONDON: European governments should shun the phrase 8220;Islamic terrorism8221; in favour of 8220;terrorists who abusively invoke islam8221;, according to new guidelines from EU officials.

Backed by diplomats and civil servants from the 25 EU members, the officials are drafting a 8220;non-emotive lexicon for discussing radicalisation8221; to be submitted to British PM Tony Blair and other leaders in June, the Daily Telegraph reported.

8216;8216;The basic idea behind it is to avoid the use of improper words that would cause frustration among Muslims and increase the risk of radicalisation,8217;8217; an EU official said.

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The officials hope the new lexicon would be adopted by governments and other EU institutions. They have reviewed the impact of such terms as Islamist, fundamentalist and jihad when describing acts of terrorism and murder.