ARMENIANS: THE INSIDE STORY
John Kamau And Cyrus Ombati
The East African Standard, Kenya
June 12 2006
The deported Armenians plotted to transform a section of Kenya’s
security forces into a crack commando unit.
Workers hired by the landlord of the house where the Artur brothers
were living in Runda Estate put up the gate that was brought down
by the police on the wee hours of Friday morning when they raided
the residence.
Documents retrieved from the Runda house the alleged Armenian
Artur brothers – Sargarsyan and Margaryan – stayed show they sought
authority to transform a section of Kenya’s security forces into a
high-commando wing.
And it emerged yesterday that the roots of the Armenians’ stay in
Kenya runs deep and points to the involvement of senior and influential
political figures some of whom have gone underground.
The Sunday Standard has also established that it was a former minister
who brought the Armenians into Kenya. But he did not prove reliable
in fixing promised deals after he was dropped from the Cabinet and
they were taken over by a political activist.
Intelligence officials are said to have written a report advising
against offering them the chance to train security agents fearing
that that this could taint the Government’s name.
Separately, from an interview with one of the people the Armenians
worked closely with, the Sunday Standard learnt that the Arturs’ roots
in Kenya run deep and some of their collaborators had gone underground.
Though he couldn’t say what the Armenians’ mission in Kenya was our
interviewee was fearful that the Armenians were part of a larger
underground group operating in the region whose tracks the US Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) could now be after.
The Sunday Standard also established that the two also wanted to
use Kenya as a base to enter the Democratic Republic of Congo where
planned to start a similar “programme” on security issues.
They had flown to the country several times to assess the situation.
We have independently established that it is Langata MP Raila Odinga’s
claims that the two were mercenaries that forced Commissioner of
Police Hussein Ali to appoint a team of detectives to investigate
the mercenary linkage.
And the saga continued to unravel when Margaryan called The Standard
from Dubai and asked the question:
“If I was a gun-runner why was I left to leave Kenya a free man?” He
boasted that he was now relocating to Uganda.
“What is all this lie about me having a gun? How come I got with a gun
into the airport, which is supposed to be a security area? How come
I came out with it? If I did all these things then they found those
things in my house as they say, why am I not in jail?” Artur asked.
The police officers dispatched to their house on Thursday night
after the gun drama stumbled on several proposals and copies of
tender documents.
These would appear to confirm the Armenians, with their collaborators,
plotted to supply the Government with military and police gear.
The papers even showed that they had submitted samples of bulletproof
gear they could easily access to the Government.
An officer who was in the raiding party revealed they found a copy
of a tender application to supply the police with bullet proof vests.
The tender could have been a cover for mass importation of security
gear, a suspicion investigators now believe is supported by the fact
that police found light and heavy bullet-proof vests packed in a box
in one of the rooms.
They also recovered eight guns and 100 rounds of ammunition from
the garden.
A senior security official interviewed said they were still trying
to unmask their mission or possible target of a team that Government
officials initially described as “investors”.
Officials say the proposal to train Kenya’s security forces was made
to the Office of the President shortly before the March 2 raid on
the Standard Group premises.
“They were almost granted the permission to offer their expertise
but this changed after their names were linked to the raids,” said
security sources.
Sources privy to insider information say that the two acted as
“political fixers’ – a term used in the underworld Mafia to describe
individuals who can coax, cajole, threaten, eliminate and carry out
espionage work on behalf of clients and for political reasons.
“They are really terrifying guys and they are many. It is when you
add one and one you get to know them,” a close associate told us
last evening.
“They are always referred to as Armenians but they are most likely
Russian. What I know is that each had five different passports,”
the associate said.
The two had managed to penetrate the security system, as they bulldozed
their way around setting up systems with high and mighty and causing
friction within the system as those who defied them were transferred
to other areas.
Sources say Ali has been a worried man after he independently learnt
that the two were linked to the raids on the Standard Group premises.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
