MOSCOW (AP)--U.S. President George W. Bush called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday to swap praise Saturday over the international sting operation earlier this week that resulted in the arrest of an arms dealer accused by the U.S. of arranging to sell a Russian shoulder-fired missile, the Kremlin said.
Putin's press service said the two leaders "with satisfaction noted that the close cooperation in the fight against terrorism is yielding concrete results." Both leaders "highly appraised" the joint operation, the Kremlin said.
Hemant Lakhani, a U.K. citizen of Indian descent, was arrested Tuesday in New Jersey after an operation that U.S. officials said began in December 2001 with a tip that he was seeking to buy weapons in St. Petersburg.
Lakhani agreed to deliver a shoulder-fired missile to U.S. agents posing as buyers after he obtained it from Russian agents posing as sellers, U.S. prosecutors said. The missile, which officials said was intended to shoot down an airliner, was an inoperable copy brought from Russia to the U.S. to make the deal seem real.
The operation was carried out through joint efforts by the secret services of the U.S., Russia , and the U.K. Russian analysts said the sting was more a chance to show off cooperation among former Cold War foes than a sign of real progress in halting weapons trafficking.
Putin and Bush also discussed Putin's upcoming visit to the U.S. for a summit with Bush, scheduled for the end of September.
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