A British opposition party has called on Prime Minister Tony Blair to come clean over his involvement in a controversial R30-billion arms deal between the South African government and British arms manufacturers BAE, the Star reported on Thursday.
”The British government and the prime minister must give assurances that they will provide all the support required for the Serious Fraud Office [SFO] to conclude its investigations involving BAE and South Africa,” Liberal Democrats leader Menzies Campbell told the newspaper.
The paper said the matter was raised in the British Parliament on Wednesday where Campbell challenged Blair on controversial deals struck with Saudi Arabia and Tanzania.
In 1999 BAE won a contract to supply South Africa with military aircraft, including 24 Hawk fighter trainers, at allegedly double the price of a rival Italian bidder, the report said.
In the Tanzanian deal, BAE secretly paid a $12-million commission into a Swiss account in a deal that led to country 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.
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.
Blair supported the 2002 sale but former Cabinet minister Clare Short says she and the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, opposed it.
The recent admissions by the Tanzanian middleman, Sailesh Vithlani, led Short to call for BAE’s prosecution if the allegations were proved. She said the prime minister had been personally responsible for forcing the licence for the Tanzania deal through the Cabinet.
”No 10 insisted on letting this go ahead, when it stank,” she said. ”It was always obvious that this useless project was corrupt.” – Sapa