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Hezbollah Reportedly Had British Goggles
LONDON - Britain said Monday that it is investigating a report that Israeli soldiers found British-made night-vision goggles in a Hezbollah hideout.
"The Israeli Defense Forces have told us that they have found some night-vision equipment in southern Lebanon that they believe to have been manufactured in Britain," a British Foreign Office spokesman said Monday on condition of anonymity because agency rules do not allow him to speak for attribution.
"We are seeking further details of the equipment to investigate whether it is British and, if so, by whom it was made and to whom it was sold," the spokesman said.
The Times newspaper reported Monday that Israeli officials believe the goggles may be from a consignment sold to Iran by Britain in 2003.
The sale was intended to bolster Iranian efforts to combat heroin smuggling across the Afghan border as part of the United Nations Drugs Control Program, the newspaper claimed.
The Foreign Office spokesman said it was not yet clear if the items were part of the batch sent to Iran in 2003.
Israeli officials said Friday that they had sent a senior delegation to Moscow to complain that Russian-made anti-tank missiles were used by Hezbollah guerrillas in their 34-day conflict with Israeli forces in Lebanon.
Israeli officials say that Iran and Syria passed the arms to Hezbollah after buying them from Russia.
Russia denied the claim.
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