KUALA LUMPUR: An attempt by a local company to export some 30,000 assault rifles to Burundi, worth more than RM200 million, nearly caused Malaysia to be censured by the United Nations Security Council, if not for the prompt action by Malaysian officials at the UN body.

The Malay Mail learnt that officials from the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the UN in New York had managed to assure the world body that the Malaysian government had not sanctioned the deal and the local company would not be allowed to proceed with the transaction.

The Paper That Cares also learnt at the recent Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace 2009 that officials of the Malaysian company all retired armed forces personnel had met senior government officials in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya recently, together with a Burundian delegation, to lobby for the deal.

The Burundians were said to be members of the country's military. The local company representatives and the Burundi delegation also met with several defence companies to get officials from the latter companies to lobby with the Malaysian government on their behalf.

It was learnt that the Burundians were prepared to pay top dollar for the Steyr AUGA1 assault rifles, previously used as the standard assault rifle of the Malaysian army.

However, their attempts were rebuffed as the army had no plans to sell the Steyrs despite most of the weapons already in storage.

Once word got out that the UN wanted the deal cancelled, government officers promptly stopped contact with the company's officials.

A defence ministry official confirmed that the local company had been officially informed that it should no longer be involved with the Burundians.

It is believed foreign intelligence agencies that had been monitoring the situation in Burundi, a Central African nation, had tipped off the world body on the possible arms sale.

Since 2000, the UN has set up several organisations in Africa to prevent the stockpiling and illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons to reduce conflict among nations and ruinous civil wars.

As a member of the UN, Malaysia has agreed to abide by the Security Council resolutions on the export of arms, especially to nations and regions in conflict or just emerging from one.

Burundi is one of the world's poorest nations, having just emerged from a 12-year, ethnicbased civil war. Since independence in 1961, it has been plagued by tension between the dominant Tutsi minority and the Hutu majority.

It was feared that the rifles, should they reach Burundi, could land in the hands of various militias in the country.
Another fear is that they could be smuggled to neighbouring Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo
that are also emerging from their own ethnic civil wars.

The Steyr AUG was developed by Austria-based Steyr- Mannlicher AG. The Malaysian army adopted the weapon as its standard assault rifle in 1987 following an agreement with Steyr-Mannlicher for the local manufacture. In 2006, the army decided to retire the AUG and selected the Colt M4 Carbine as its standard assault rifle.

However, as only 14,000 M4 had been procured so far, the Steyr is still being used as by certain Army units, the Royal Malaysian Air Force and the Royal Malaysian Navy.