Skirting arms embargo: U.S. arrest UAE native over bid to buy, smuggle 89 sniper rifles into Belarus

A United Arab Emirates man identified by an undercover agent in Salt Lake City has been indicted for allegedly attempting to export sniper rifles from the U.S. to Belarus.

Kolar Rahman Anees Ur Rahman is accused of attempting to buy 89 Sako 308-caliber rifles and ship them to Belarus, ‘an Eastern European country under an arms embargo from the United States’, U.S. news website ksl.com reports.

According to the website, Rahman was aware of the embargo.

If convicted, the man faces a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for violation of the Arms Export Control Act, 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for money laundering, and 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for smuggling, the article reads.

Read also: Belarus preparing another SU-24M Fencer bomber for export to Sudan – Bellingcat

As Belsat reported earlier, Russian political expert Yevgeny Satanovsky suggested that Belarus indirectly supports the Islamic State by selling weapons to countries that help Islamists in Syria and Iraq.

belsat.eu, following ksl.com