Nicaraguan official told U.S. diplomat of arms deal that later went bad Mon May 6, 8:52 PM ET By FILADELFO ALEMAN, Associated Press Writer MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Nicaragua's former interior minister said Monday he told the U.S. ambassador here about plans to trade 3,000 Kalashnikov rifles to an Israeli-run company — guns that reportedly wound up with a Colombian paramilitary group on the U.S. terrorism list. Michael Stevens, an embassy spokesman, confirmed that former Interior Minister Rene Herrera had mentioned the trade to Ambassador Oliver P. Garza, who at the time did not oppose it. "We had no reason to believe it would take the course that it did," Stevens said. Herrera, who spoke to The Associated Press by phone, said he told the diplomat that Nicaragua's police force planned to trade the military guns and 2.5 million cartridges to an Israeli-run company based in Guatemala. In return, the police would receive Israeli-made pistols. Nicaragua's police say the company, Grupo Internacional de Representantes, or GIRSA, claimed the rifles were meant for Panama's police. They claim the company provided supporting documents, but Panamanian officials say the documents must have been forged. The Colombian newspaper El Tiempo de Bogota reported last month that the guns instead were shipped in late October and November to a Colombian paramilitary group, the United Self-Defense Group of Colombia, or AUC, which is on both the U.S. and European Union (news - web sites) list of terrorist organizations. In the past, U.S. officials have accused the AUC of swapping drugs for guns. Herrera, at the time in charge of security and political affairs for Nicaragua, said he "verbally informed President (Arnoldo) Aleman and the ambassador of the United States about the affair, but there is no written document." "I did it so that they would not think I was doing something improper," he added. He said he heard no objections. Herrera said that although he signed off on the deal, he did not know where the Israeli company was supposed to send the Kalashnikov rifles. He said National Police Chief Franco Montealegre "never told me the arms were destined for Panama." The owners of the Guatemala company have denied doing anything wrong. "We hope that those responsible are revealed as soon as possible, and that is our overriding interest," Uzi Kisselivich, one of the owners of GIRSA, said in an April 30 interview with The Associated Press. "When this thing is over, people are going to realize that we had nothing to do with it." After officials in Panama and Nicaragua accused one another of lying and of corruption, the two countries promised a joint investigation. The presidents of the two countries were to discuss the affair Wednesday while attending the inauguration of Costa Rica's new president. The Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa reported Monday that the value of the Mini Uzi and Jericho pistols Nicaragua received was small — less than dlrs 250,000 — compared with the estimated dlrs 5 million value of the Kalashnikovs and ammunition. "It you take into account that we sold for a value of dlrs 242,000, each AK (Kalashnikov) went for about 40-plus dollars," the newspaper quoted the deputy director of police, Francisco Bautista Lara, as saying. By the time the arms were shipped, Herrera had stepped down in order to campaign for congress. Aleman left office in January and is now president of the National Assembly.