Blair under pressure over dropped probe -report

[cal04]

Some 130 campaign groups and charities have written to Prime Minister Tony Blair in a bid to reopen a corruption inquiry into a multi-billion-pound defence deal with Saudi Arabia, the Financial Times said.

The groups, which include Amnesty International, Oxfam, Friends of the Earth and Transparency International, have also written to other minister over last month's decision to halt the Serious Fraud Office investigation into deals involving Saudi officials and people working for BAE Systems, it said.

They warned that the government would probably do "irreparable damage" to Britain's anti-bribery reputation and could be accused of "double standards" in its dealings with the developing world, the FT reported.

"The early termination of the investigation for reasons that do not relate to the legal merits of the case sends the message that companies trading with countries that a government claims to be of strategic importance are above the law and can bribe with impunity," it cited an extract from the letter as saying.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=73972007

Pressure for Blair over corruption probe
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/68ded2ec-a413-11db-bec4-0000779e2340.html

[Eugene]

1. And BAE is caught up in yet another scandal...

(The Guardian)

BAE's secret $12m payout in African deal

Middleman reveals covert cash for 'unnecessary' Tanzanian radar sale

David Leigh in Dar es Salaam and Rob Evans
Monday January 15, 2007
The Guardian

The UK's biggest arms supplier secretly paid a $12m commission into a Swiss account
in a deal which led to Tanzania, one of the world's poorest countries, buying a
controversial military radar system.

A Tanzanian middleman, who has a long-standing relationship with military and government
figures, has admitted that the sum was covertly moved to a Swiss account by BAE Systems,
which is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

The back-door payment represented 30% of the contract value. The east African state had
to borrow to finance the deal, which critics said was unnecessary and overpriced.

-snip-

The SFO, which was recently forced to abandon its investigation into commissions paid on a
massive arms contract with Saudi Arabia, is now focusing its attention on Tanzania.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/armstrade/story/0,,1990523,00.html

And then there's that contract scandal in South Africa...

[lligrd]

2. Balir Is Constantly Under Pressure

and yet nothing ever happens. The British are as pathetic as us Americans at holding their politicians accountable.

[Art_from_Ark]

3. An British friend told me that Blair's new nickname is "Bonsai"

because he's a "little bush".

[dipsydoodle]

4. I can't find any references

to that over here which by now I'd have thought would've shown up on google or yahoo - may have been a comment by one of our comedians on TV or radio. Notwithstanding that, true or not, it's a brilliant observation which uses a simple play on words. I hope it sticks. :rofl:

[Art_from_Ark]

5. He might have gotten the idea from an Aussie friend

Apparently there are people "down under" who refer to their PM Howard as a "bonsai"

http://www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au/cartoon_847.html

[VegasWolf]

6. I can think of one place where Blair should receive a cold probe!

[goforit]

7. LOL!!!....Hilarious!