Carlos Cardoen

Los Angeles defense contractor Teledyne Industries and Chilean arms merchant Carlos Cardoen were indicted Wednesday on charges of violating U.S. arms export laws in the sale of 24,000 cluster bombs to Iraq before the Persian Gulf War. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno personally approved the sweeping charges, despite evidence that U.S. agencies knew Cardoen was manufacturing the bombs for Iraq when Teledyne received export licenses from the U.S. government to sell him a key ingredient in the devices.

Los Angeles defense contractor Teledyne Industries and Chilean arms merchant Carlos Cardoen were indicted Wednesday on charges of violating U.S. arms export laws in the sale of 24,000 cluster bombs to Iraq before the Persian Gulf War. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno personally approved the sweeping charges, despite evidence that U.S. agencies knew Cardoen was manufacturing the bombs for Iraq when Teledyne received export licenses from the U.S. government to sell him a key ingredient in the devices.

The Justice Department has decided to proceed with its investigation of a Los Angeles-based defense contractor and a Chilean arms manufacturer despite potentially embarrassing intelligence information about U.S. policy toward Iraq. According to lawyers involved in the case, a decision is expected in the next two weeks on whether criminal charges will be filed against a division of Teledyne Inc., the Los Angeles defense firm, and Carlos Cardoen, a major Chilean arms manufacturer.

The Justice Department has decided to proceed with its investigation of a Los Angeles-based defense contractor and a Chilean arms manufacturer despite potentially embarrassing intelligence information about U.S. policy toward Iraq. According to lawyers involved in the case, a decision is expected in the next two weeks on whether criminal charges will be filed against a division of Teledyne Inc., the Los Angeles defense firm, and Carlos Cardoen, a major Chilean arms manufacturer.

As long as there has been war, there have been those who profit from it. In that ancient tradition, Chilean industrialist Carlos Cardoen has made a fortune from the war between Iran and Iraq. Cardoen, 45, also has made Chile one of the few developing countries that can compete successfully with industrial powers for international arms sales.

In a case that may shed light on how the West helped to arm Iraq, Justice Department officials are wrapping up an investigation into how a Los Angeles-based defense contractor supplied a potent ingredient for Iraqi cluster bombs, according to documents and interviews. One hundred tons of munitions-grade zirconium, which intensifies burning and helps penetrate armor, were sold by a division of defense contractor Teledyne Inc.

U.S. Customs agents probing possible illegal arms sales to Iraq searched a Miami development firm allegedly linked to an international weapons dealer, the company's attorney said Friday. The target of the probe is Carlos Cardoen, owner of Industrias Cardoen S.A. of Chile, which in the past supplied the Iraqi army with weapons, including cluster bombs, law enforcement sources said.

Teledyne Salesman Sentenced to Prison: Edward A. Johnson, the only Teledyne employee convicted in the defense contractor's sale of the metal zirconium to Chilean arms maker Carlos Cardoen in the 1980s, was sentenced to nearly 3 1/2 years in prison. Johnson showed no emotion as U.S. District Judge Shelby Highsmith in Miami read the sentence. Johnson, who worked at Teledyne's Wah Chang Albany unit in Albany, Ore.

Teledyne Inc. reportedly is ready to plead guilty to federal charges that it illegally exported 130 tons of zirconium that was used to make cluster bombs for Iraq in the 1980s. The Los Angeles-based defense contractor plans to enter the plea rather than face trial next month in Miami, a source close to the case told Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

A federal judge Wednesday rejected claims by a division of Teledyne Inc. that its role in the sale of 24,000 cluster bombs to Iraq was legal because the transactions were part of a secret U.S. policy to arm Iraq before the Persian Gulf War. In response to a government motion to keep classified information secret, U.S. District Judge Shelby Highsmith in Miami said that the claim by the Los Angeles-based defense company "does not constitute any legally cognizable defense."

In a case that may shed light on how the West helped to arm Iraq, Justice Department officials are wrapping up an investigation into how a Los Angeles-based defense contractor supplied a potent ingredient for Iraqi cluster bombs, according to documents and interviews. One hundred tons of munitions-grade zirconium, which intensifies burning and helps penetrate armor, were sold by a division of defense contractor Teledyne Inc.

As long as there has been war, there have been those who profit from it. In that ancient tradition, Chilean industrialist Carlos Cardoen has made a fortune from the war between Iran and Iraq. Cardoen, 45, also has made Chile one of the few developing countries that can compete successfully with industrial powers for international arms sales.

Lawyers for a division of Teledyne Inc., claimed Monday that the Los Angeles-based defense company was allowed to sell material for Iraqi cluster bombs as part of a secret U.S. government policy to assist the regime of Saddam Hussein before the Persian Gulf War. Teledyne said that the U.S. government knew that Chilean arms manufacturer Carlos Cardoen was selling the bombs to Iraq but still granted Teledyne export licenses to provide Cardoen with zirconium, a key ingredient in the weapons.

What seemed to be the suicide of a British journalist visiting Chile three years ago has turned into a murder mystery with suspected links to international arms traffickers and Iraqi secret agents. Jonathan Moyle, 28, was found hanged in the closet of a downtown Santiago hotel room on March 31, 1990. Moyle, editor of a British publication called Helicopter Defense World, was here to attend an aviation exposition sponsored by the Chilean air force.