Georgian special services have foiled an attempt by a Russian citizen to sell weapons-grade uranium for $1 million to agents he thought were radical Islamists, a senior Interior Ministry official said on Thursday.
The official said Oleg Khintsagov, a resident of Russia's North Ossetia region, was arrested on February 1 2006 and a closed court soon after convicted him to 8 1/2 years in prison.
Khintsagov was detained as he tried to sell uranium-235 to an undercover Georgian agent posing as a member of a radical Islamist group, said Shota Utiashvili, who heads the ministry's information and analytical department.
"He was demanding $1 million for 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of enriched weapons-grade uranium," Utiashvili said. "This sort of uranium could be used to make a nuclear bomb but 100 grams is not enough." Before being arrested, Khintsagov told agents he had another 2-3 kilograms of highly enriched uranium (HEU) in the North Ossetian capital Vladikavkaz, Utiashvili said.
Khintsagov transported the uranium, which was enriched to 90 percent, in plastic bags in his pockets. He refused to cooperate with the investigation.
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