In a story highlighting the corruption and inefficiencies of arming Iraq's armed forces, Solomon Moore of the New York Times reported Sunday that 22 high-ranking Iraqi officials negotiated an $833 million arms deal with Serbia in September of last year.
According to Moore:
The deal drew enough criticism that Iraqi officials later limited the purchase to $236 million. And much of that equipment, American commanders said, turned out to be either shoddy or inappropriate for the military's mission.
Serbia, however, denies that any discussion of an $800 million contract with Iraq ever took place. In a somewhat cryptic public statement, Serbia's Minster of Defense Dragan Sutanovac explained:
The basis of [the NYT] story involved a type of armored vehicle that we do not manufacture. So, the story accusing us of shipping low-grade equipment is impossible, because we have yet to ship anything, and we do not produce that kind of product. That would be like someone accusing Serbia of exporting poor quality Mercedes… It has nothing to do with us, but [rather] another country in the region. But, since that country has not recognize[d] Kosovo independence, it might be undiplomatic for me to say what country it is."
Is there anything Serbia can't directly link to the Kosovo issue?
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