al Yamamah: the blame game.

Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, who finally ended the Serious Fraud Office's vendetta against BAE in respect of al Yamamah, has been talking about the case to the Financial Times. It is a long interview, long winded even, but it reduces to another statement of the blindingly obvious: it was not in the national interest to upset the Saudis.

The interview's main interest is that Goldsmith denies it was he that pulled the plug and blames the SFO itself.

I haven’t said to the SFO: “Don’t investigate.” And I really think it’s about time if only in fairness to the SFO, never mind me, that the director of the SFO has said very, very clearly, and his assistant director said very clearly to the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] in Paris this week, that it was they who took the decision.

You look strained. I know they have said the same thing to you because you have reported it. I didn’t pressure them. And I didn’t direct them. It was their decision. I have said on a couple of occasions now, precisely for the reasons you have given, that this is not entirely comfortable. I am confident it’s the right decision. I don’t mean in any sense it’s not the right decision. I believe it is and I will explain why.

I think it is time the Attorney General stopped telling breathtaking lies. The decision to drop the case was solely his responsibility and the SFO has said very clearly that it was forced into the decision. [Link corrected]

According to today's Guardian, Goldsmith was himself pressured into dropping the case by Tony Blair.

Over at Peace Journal, there is some unhappy but ethical hippies.

Tags: al Yamamah, Goldsmith

al-Yamamah: unhappy days at the SFO .

Yet more on the al-Yamamah scandal. Paranoia in the in the Serious Fraud Squad? Maybe. According to the Independent, SFO officers investigating al-Yamamah fear somebody bugged their offices.

One senior figure who had been helping the SFO said the investigation's security had been repeatedly compromised. "I was told by detectives that the probe was being bugged. They had reached this conclusion because highly confidential information on the inquiry had been reaching outside parties."

So now we know, it was a bug and not either a leak or a corrupt officer selling information. I think I will ask the fairies at the bottom of the garden what they think.

The SFO is still complaining to anybody who will listen. The Sunday Telegraph and the Sunday Times each lend a not overly sympathetic ear.

In the Sunday Times, Simon Jenkins has a go at the Attorney Genereal on this and on cash for honours.

Tags: al Yamamah

al-Yamamah - tantrum time

Now that the government, or at least the Attorney General, has, for once, done something right and halted the al-Yamamah investigation, a lot of toys are being thrown about in various prams.

The head of the Serious Fraud Office is not happy at being warned by the Foreign Office that "...he was pissing off the Saudis big time" (Guardian). Yet, the Times says, the SFO inquiry is continuing as far as it affects countries other than Saudi Arabia. I rather think that unless he wants early retirement, the head of the SFO had also better stop pissing off his boss, the Attorney General, even small time.

From yet another Guardian story, we learn that suspects, some the usual, others rather more exotic, are intent on trying nanny's patience:

The Campaign against the Arms Trade and the Corner House, a social and environmental justice group, believe the grounds for the decision - made after the prime minister warned it was against Britain's security and foreign policy interests - could be subject to judicial review. David Pannick QC has been hired.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development also signalled that it would launch its own investigation. Britain is a signatory to the 30-nation grouping's anti-bribery convention.

The Daily Telegraph also picks up on the OPEC angle. I wish I could be present when OPEC tries to question any Saudi officials. And as long as there is a House of Lords exercising judicial supervision, the day has not yet come when a British government has to worry about more than relatively minor political embarrassment from even an hostile judicial review on a matter involving national security. Mr Blair, please note how useful the Lords can be to you.

Tags: al-Yamamah

al Yamamah: the end.

Sense at last. The BBC can report that Lord Goldsmith has finally buried the al-Yamamah investigation. The Serious Fraud Office, which has wasted million of pounds of taxpayers' money on this nonsense, has issued a terse statement.

Serious Fraud Office.

Statement

14 December 2006

The Director of the Serious Fraud Office has decided to discontinue the investigation into the affairs of BAE SYSTEMS Plc as far as they relate to the Al Yamamah defence contract with the government of Saudi Arabia.

This decision has been taken following representations that have been made both to the Attorney General and the Director of the SFO concerning the need to safeguard national and international security.

It has been necessary to balance the need to maintain the rule of law against the wider public interest.

No weight has been given to commercial interests or to the national economic interest.

End of statement

I suspect that commercial and economic interests weighed heavily, but not as heavily as the inevitable job losses in Labour constituencies.

Update 15.12.2006

Let us leave what should be last the last word on this sorry saga to the politicians. From the BBC.

Tags: al Yamamah, BAE, Defence

Saudi annoyance

The Saudi Royal family is not best pleased about the al Yamamah revelations of slush funds, reports the Times, and the UK is starting to pay the price.

A Whitehall source confirmed that the row over the SFO investigation was begining to sour broader diplomatic and commercial ties: “Saudi patience has entirely run out. This SFO investigation has been going on for years. The Saudis feel, rightly in my opinion, badly let down that Britain has not respected their confidentiality,” a Whitehall source said. “The contract is on the line, our relations with the Saudis generally are hitting the rocks. Everything is in jeopardy, including our anti-terrorism co-operation.”

According to the Guardian, the Saudis do not entirely trust the French and US defence firms are pitching for the contract.

Still no sign of the Attorney General.

Tags: al Yamamah, Defence

Al-Yamamah pressure.

Pressure is beginning to mount on the government over the al-Yamamah scandal which is threatening to destroy British jobs and severely damage the UK defence industry.

The Scotsman reports that the UK's major defence firms are getting restless about the loss of billions of pounds' worth business and thousands of jobs.

According to Preston Today, the area's MPs, whose constituencies would be affected by job losses, are raising the issue with government.

And the Daily Telegraph reports that the French government is intensifying its efforts to win the contract if the Saudis withdraw from the UK deal.

President Chirac, who was photographed meeting Saudi officials in Paris last month, is thought to have brought forward a trip to Saudi Arabia to later this month, according to industry sources.

Tags: Al-Yamamah

al Yamamah: Saudi ultimatum

The Daily Telegraph leads today's front page with the news that Saudi Arabia has issued an ultimatum to the British government: you have 10 days to stop the Serious Fraud Office inquiry into the al Yamamah contract or the deal is off. Instead Saudi Arabia will turn to France.

The Saudis are understood to have already opened negotiations with the French about buying 36 rival Rafale jets.

The Daily Telegraph has learned that President Jacques Chirac has been to Saudi Arabia twice in recent months to offer full French co-operation on such a deal.

There has since been a series of meetings in Paris. Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi national security council secretary general, visited the French president on Wednesday of last week.

Last Monday, an envoy from the Saudi government is understood to have gone to Paris to confirm details of a potential new deal.

At risk are at least 50,000 jobs and continuing access to Saudi intelligence on terrorism. None of which appears to worry Lord Goldsmith who, as Attorney General, has powers to end the SFO inquiry in the national interest.

Previously on CS, with a link to the relevant legislation: Al Yamamah: will Blair act?

Tags: al Yamamah, Defence, Saudi Arabia

al-Yamamah: will Blair act?

al Yamamah continues to unfold, with British jobs vanishing before our very eyes. The Daily Telegraph reports that Tony Blair is coming under pressures to intervene and that

.... it emerged that governments in Germany, Italy and Spain — Britain's partner nations in the Typhoon/Eurofighter project who are relying on the £10 billion contract for more work —are concerned about the SFO inquiry.

One defence source said: "Although BAE is leading the production of the Eurofighter, it has implications not just in the UK. [Other countries] are asking, 'Why can't the UK government control this'? "

Why indeed. It is a problem entirely of the government's own making. Despite warnings that this type of case would inevitably occur, ministers introduced the corruption legislation at a time before they had grown up politically and were still posturing like an opposition. It is long past time to end the enquiry. The left will squawk, but then they are always squawking about something. Yet, it is difficult to see what Blair can do, except prod the the Attorney General into action. It is the lawyer's call.

I am not a lawyer but, from this link, I think the relevant legislation is Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security (ATCS) Act 2001, which came into force in 2002.

Tags: al Yamamah, Defence, Saudi Arabia

Al-Yamamah turmoil.

More on the al-Yamamah scandal and the destruction of British jobs.

According to the Guardian, the Serious Fraud Office has unearthed Swiss bank accounts linking questionable payments by BAE to Wafic Said, the Saudi rulers' arms dealer.

The Guardian also has a profile of Wafic Said, an FAQ guide to the case and a typically sanctimonious leader.

Elsewhere, in the Times the Saudis are being diplomatic, for the moment. By contrast, the Daily Telegraph says the Saudis have suspended negotiations over the deal, and reports on behind the scenes attempts to sort out the mess.

Meanwhile the Attorney General is still conspicuous by his inaction.

Tags: al Yamamah, Defence, Saudi Arabia

al-Yamamah: for and against.

An update on the Saudi corruption probe concerning the alleged payment of bribes in connection with defence contracts under the so-called al-Yamamah agreement.

The Sunday Telegraph reports that, if the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) persists with the inquiry, Saudi Arabia will give the contract instead to France. Moreover, the free-spending Saudis will never again award a defence contract to a British firm.

The French obviously have a more realistic towards the international defence business than the UK, which is prepared to destroy a major industry just so some people, including Sunday Telegraph comment writers, can feel self-righteous.

In Friday's Daily Mail the ever-sharp Peter Oborne takes a more balanced look at the issues. Oborne sees it not as a criminal issue, but as a cultural and political problem, largely caused by an inept UK government. However, Oborne thinks there is still time for the Attorney General to resolve the issue by ending the SFO inquiry.

Tags: al Yamamah, Defence, Saudi Arabia

Saudi corruption probe (Update)

The Times says that Saudi Arabia is threatening to suspend diplomatic ties with the UK unless Tony Blair stops a police investigation into corruption in certain defence contracts.

The day after the Sunday Times (and my original post), the Guardian has run the story in more detail.

The Serious Fraud Office is interested is an alleged slush fund, said to be operated by BAE systems to grease Saudi palms in connection with defence contracts under the so-called al-Yamamah agreement. Several British individuals have been arrested in connection with the affair.

The Saudis do not seem to appreciate that, at the moment, relations between Blair and the police are a little strained , especially on the question of bribes.

For the government's part, it is a mess entirely of their own making. Ministers enthusiastically supported the laws which make such payments illegal, preferring self-righteous moralising to a realistic appraisal of how business is done with these filthy rich , but backward, Arab countries. Consequently, thousands of British jobs are at risk.

Tags: al Yamamah, Defence, Saudi Arabia