U.S. Customs Looking Into French Laser Sale to Iraq

The Customs Service is investigating whether export laws were violated in a 1985 sale of lasers to Iraq by a giant French electronics firm that is trying to buy the defense business of Dallas-based LTV Corp., an agency official said Wednesday.

A spokesman for Thomson, of which the French government owns 58%, denied that the sale was illegal and called such speculation “false and suspect.”

“We are investigating that company” for possible export violations, said a Customs Service official in Washington. The official commented only on condition of anonymity and declined to give further detail.

The lasers involved in the sale were attached to Iraqi Mirage jets and could be used to track targets on the ground, sources inside and outside the government said. The lasers were developed by U.S. defense contractor Martin Marietta Corp. for Thomson, said the sources, who also spoke on condition that they not be identified.

A spokesman for the French company said: “Thomson has not been informed of any investigation. But Thomson is confident that if there was an investigation, that it would clear up this matter.” He said the laser equipment sold to Iraq was “purely French” and was exported with the required approvals from the French government.