British-Indian held in missile plot

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Briton of Indian origin for allegedly smuggling a surface-to-air missile into the United States.

The man, an arms dealer, was arrested late on Monday in Newark, New Jersey, following a sting operation that the FBI conducted in conjunction with British and Russian authorities, the BBC said.

The man, the BBC said, has connections with the Mumbai underworld.

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He was held when he tried to sell the missile, a Russian-made Igla, to an FBI agent posing as a terrorist.

The missile was smuggled disguised as medical supplies and was stored in a warehouse in Baltimore, it said.

The BBC said there is a tape of the arms dealer saying he wants the missile to bring down something really big, 'like an airliner and possibly Air Force One', the US president's official jet.

It said the missile was bought at a Russian factory for $85,000.

The Scotland Yard is searching flats in London and more arrests could follow, it said.

Russia detected him five months ago in St Petersburg and Moscow and kept him under surveillance, according to the BBC.

Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised the FBI to have an undercover agent sent to Russia.

The arms dealer flew to New York with his wife on Sunday on a British Airways flight from Heathrow Airport in London.

But he was followed on to the plane by an FBI agent and held in New Jersey.

CNN quoted a US administration official as saying there was no terrorist angle to the plot and that the man appeared to be motivated solely by profit.

According to the US Department of Homeland Security, there are 750,000 shoulder-fired missiles in the world. Portable, easy to use, and inexpensive, they are easily obtained on the black market.

The missiles can be used with accuracy when planes are landing or taking off. Also, planes often fly over densely populated areas while leaving or approaching airports and that make them easy targets.

The department has asked eight government contractors to come up with plans for anti-missile technology that could be put on planes.

It has also been evaluating about a dozen overseas airports to determine their vulnerability to attacks with shoulder-fired missiles.

The US government is trying to stem the proliferation of the missiles by encouraging other nations to better control their inventories and by re-instituting buyback programmes.