U.S. arrests 10 it says plotted to oust Lao government

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors charged 10 people on Monday with seeking to topple the Lao government in what they described as a dramatic cloak-and-dagger plot thwarted by an undercover agent posing as an arms dealer.

"These defendants had developed an audacious plan to overthrow the government of Laos, and were seeking to arm themselves with automatic rifles, rockets and surface-to-air missiles," Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein said.

Most prominent among those charged is Vang Pao, 77, a resident of southern California and ethnic Hmong.

A general in the Royal Lao Army before the Communists came to power in 1975, he led a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency-trained mercenary army during the war in Indochina.

The Lao government was delighted by the arrests.

"This is the great news that Laos has waited for so long," Lao Foreign Ministry spokesman Yong Chanhthalansy told Reuters in Bangkok on the sidelines of a bilateral meeting.

"We hope the United States will prosecute them strictly under the Patriot Act and punish the violators of the law severely."

The arrests should also improve ties with Thailand, which Vientiane suspects of turning a blind eye to militants working from its territory, Yong said.

"I am sure that such vigorous investigation will lead to the uprooting of the network of the villains who have caused the most difficulty in bilateral relations between the Lao and Thai governments," he said.

"LIKE A MOVIE SCRIPT"

Vang Pao remains influential among the more than 100,000 Hmong in the United States: in April a Wisconsin school district voted to rename a school after him.

Many of those arrested lived in and around Fresno in central California, home to a large Hmong population.

A special agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives posed as an arms dealer who worked through Harrison Jack, 60, a retired U.S. officer who served a combat tour in Southeast Asia. Jack was charged for his role.

The U.S. Justice Department said more than 200 federal agents conducted pre-dawn raids across California.

"This investigation read like a movie script, but turned out to be reality," acting ATF director Michael Sullivan said in a statement.

"The individuals arrested today thought an arms dealer would provide the necessary weapons and personnel to assist them in the violent overthrow of another government. An undercover ATF agent led them to believe he could fulfill their needs."

The complaint, filed in federal court in Sacramento, said the men sought to spend millions of dollars on Stinger missiles, mines, automatic rifles and anti-tank missiles.

They are alleged to have wanted to ship them to Thailand for eventual use against Laos -- where the complaint said they had planted spies to survey military and government facilities.

"The defendants have issued instructions that the mercenary force is to destroy these government facilities, to reduce them to rubble, and make them look like the results of the attack upon the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001," the complaint said.

The men face conspiracy charges, including to kill and kidnap abroad, and could face life in prison.

(Additional reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan in Bangkok)