Secret Papers Reveal Threats from Prince Bandar If British Government Refused to Drop Inquiry into Corruption at BAE
Photo of Prince Bandar, head of Saudi Arabia’s national security, courtesy of The Guardian
THE GUARDIAN: Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday.

Previously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced "another 7/7" and the loss of "British lives on British streets" if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threat to cut off intelligence.

Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists. He faces accusations that he himself took more than £1bn in secret payments from the arms company BAE.

He was accused in yesterday's high court hearings of flying to London in December 2006 and uttering threats which made the prime minister, Tony Blair, force an end to the Serious Fraud Office investigation into bribery allegations involving Bandar and his family.

The threats halted the fraud inquiry, but triggered an international outcry, with allegations that Britain had broken international anti-bribery treaties.

Lord Justice Moses, hearing the civil case with Mr Justice Sullivan, said the government appeared to have "rolled over" after the threats. He said one possible view was that it was "just as if a gun had been held to the head" of the government.

The SFO investigation began in 2004, when Robert Wardle, its director, studied evidence unearthed by the Guardian. This revealed that massive secret payments were going from BAE to Saudi Arabian princes, to promote arms deals.

Yesterday, anti-corruption campaigners began a legal action to overturn the decision to halt the case. They want the original investigation restarted, arguing the government had caved into blackmail. BAE: secret papers reveal threats from Saudi prince - Spectre of 'another 7/7' led Tony Blair to block bribes inquiry, high court told >>> | David Leigh and Rob Evans

LISTEN TO GUARDIAN AUDIO: 'It was remarkable the way the government had just rolled over': Two pressure groups are appealing against the decision to drop an investigation into BAE's dealings with Saudi Arabia

THE GUARDIAN: A cover-up laid bare: court hears how SFO inquiry was halted: Papers show how arms giant tried to avoid revealing secrets; Saudi threats meant 'no other choice' but to stop investigation

THE GUARDIAN: Full Coverage: The BAE Files

DAILY MAIL: Blair accused of forcing BAE fraud probe to fold by applying 'irresistible pressure

THE INDEPENDENT: Blair used 'irresistible pressure' to halt investigation into BAE-Saudi arms deal | Robert Verkaik, Law Editor

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Al-Yamamah Continues to Be a Source of Embarrassment and Headaches for the British Government
THE TELEGRAPH: Britain could be heading for another diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia over the long-running controversy surrounding the 1980s Al-Yamamah arms deal.

There are heightened concerns in Whitehall after America's Department of Justice wrote to the British Government this month formally asking for legal assistance in its recently launched probe into BAE Systems, the UK defence company that supplied fighter jets to Saudi Arabia under the £40bn Al-Yamamah deal. Fresh Al-Yamamah crisis looms (more) By Katherine Griffiths, City Correspondent

THE GUARDIAN:
Diplomatic clash looms with US over BAE arms sale investigation By David Leigh

Mark Alexander

BAE Controversy Has Damaged the Serious Fraud Office’s Reputation for Dealing with Corruption
THE GUARDIAN: The Serious Fraud Office's reputation for tackling corruption has been damaged by the BAE Systems arms deal controversy, its director admitted today.

Robert Wardle told MPs it was "very disappointing" to have to drop his investigation into claims that Britain's biggest arms manufacturer made improper payments to Saudi Arabian officials. Serious Fraud Office admits BAE controversy has been damaging (more) By James Sturcke and agencies

Mark Alexander

BAE Shares Go Into Freefall
TIMESONLINE: Gordon Brown was today urged to reopen an official corruption inquiry into BAE Systems’ al-Yamamah contract with Saudi Arabia after US authorities announced they were launching their own formal investigation into the defence company.

Vincent Cable, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, told Times Online it was essential the incoming Prime Minister broke with the past and the “sleazy behaviour” of the outgoing Blair administration.

He added: “It is extraordinary and embarrassing that we have to rely on the higher standards of probity in the United States to investigate alleged corruption by a British company in its overseas business operations.

"We would like Gordon Brown to look at the matter again as we didn't agree with the reasons given for the early termination of the Serious Fraud Office inquiry last year." BAE shares plunge as US launches corruption probe: Almost £1.6 billion is cut from the value of BAE as the Department of Justice opens an inquiry into corruption allegations (more) | Steve Hawkes

TIMESONLINE: Tempus: BAE under fire | Steve Hawkes

TIMESONLINE: BAE contract on hold until Saudis forge closer ties with Brown| David Robertson

Mark Alexander

BAE Shares Tumble on News of US Fraud Investigation of the Company
TIMESONLINE: The Department of Justice is looking into corruption allegations surrounding arm deals with Saudi Arabia

The US Department of Justice has begun a formal fraud investigation into BAE Systems, the company has revealed just days after Mike Turner, chief executive, insisted “we’ve got nothing to hide”.

In a short statement today, BAE said US authorities would be looking into the company’s compliance with anti-corruption laws including its business with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Shares in the group tumbled nearly 7 per cent, wiping more than £1 billion from the value of the company. US launches fraud investigation into BAE Systems (more) By Steve Hawkes

THE GUARDIAN:
BAE nosedives on US inquiry

Mark Alexander

Prince Bandar’s Daughter Received “Honeymoon of a Lifetime” at BAE’s Expense, Says Peter Gardiner
THE SUNDAY TIMES: THE British arms firm BAE Systems secretly paid nearly £250,000 for a honeymoon for the daughter of Prince Bandar, the Saudi Arabian prince at the centre of bribery allegations.

A senior BAE executive authorised the payments, allowing Bandar’s daughter to enjoy a six-week honeymoon in luxury resorts in Singapore, Malaysia, Bali, Australia and Hawaii. The couple stayed in five-star hotels costing up to £4,000 a night and had a private jet trip to the Great Barrier Reef.

Peter Gardiner, managing director of the travel agency that organised the honeymoon, said: “BAE instructed me to give Bandar's daughter and her husband the honeymoon of a lifetime at BAE’s expense. Who says that big business doesn’t have a heart?” BAE paid for luxury Saudi honeymoon (more) By David Leppard

SAUDI EMBASSY: Prince Bandar

WIKIPEDIA: Prince Bandar

PBS: Prince Bandar: Interview

BBC: BBC Profile: Prince Bandar

THE GUARDIAN: 'This is an extremely serious allegation ... ': Prince Bandar's statement

MUCKRAKER: Crooked Bank May Be Tie Between Prince Bandar, Big Defense Contractor

DEMOCRACY NOW: Did Bush Cut Secret Oil Deal With Saudis Ahead of 2004 Election?

THE GUARDIAN: Prince used cash in BAE-linked account for palace: Former Saudi ambassador says $17m withdrawal was for legitimate expense By David Leigh and Rob Evans

Mark Alexander

Prince Bandar Defends Himself
KUWAIT TIMES: RIYADH: Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, facing accusations he personally received 1 billion pounds ($2 billion) under a British arms deal, said yesterday the funds were transfers between official Saudi bank accounts. Saudi prince defends funds as govt transfers (more)

Mark Alexander

Pressure Mounts on Ministers After Claims MoD Administered Payments to Prince Bandar
THE GUARDIAN:
· BBC says officials processed payments
· Goldsmith refuses to answer questions
Pressure was mounting on ministers for full disclosure of the government's role in Britain's biggest arms deal last night after claims that the Ministry of Defence directly administered payments of more than £1bn to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia.

The MoD refused to address the specific allegations, made in BBC's Panorama, while the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, continued to stonewall questions over his role in the affair. BAE, the weapons manufacuturer at the centre of the controversy, remained silent. MoD accused over role in Bandar's £1bn (more) | David Leigh and Rob Evans

Mark Alexander

”Sleazeballs”
The Saudi royal family rules Saudi Arabia as a private enterprise: Each and every contract that comes into the country, they get a cut on. We turn a blind eye to all this, yet when Ciaucescu in Roumania did the very same thing, he was disparaged. It was said that he ran the country as a private enterprise, as though the country belonged to him! He took cuts on all business deals coming into the country. This was, rightly, considered to be a dreadful thing. His wealth, of course, was as nothing in comparison with the wealth of the Saudi royal family. Why do we have these double standards? What, I wonder, is the difference? Why is it so different for the Saudis to behave this way than for the then Roumanian élite? We in the West have such a peculiar way of looking at things! Is it any wonder why we have the enemies we do? - ©Mark Alexander

WATCH THE PANORAMA PROGRAMME ON THE ALLEGED BAE CORRUPTION
BBC: For 21 years allegations of kickbacks have swirled round the biggest arms deal in history - Al Yamamah, the 'dove of peace'

Ever since Mrs Thatcher stepped off her plane resplendent in a Tory blue suit and veiled hat to greet the Saudi King and seal the Tornado warplane sale, the story has generated acres of speculation in newsprint and hours of broadcast time.

Rumours about her own son, Mark's role as a broker have featured large in the headlines.

But until Panorama broke the story of secret payments into accounts controlled by Prince Bandar, the former Saudi ambassador to the United States, no journalists had got to the heart of the matter. Princes, Planes and Pay-offs (more) By Jane Corbin (Panorama)

Al-Yamamah Inquiry: Statements

Goldsmith denies BAE cash claim

Mark Alexander

US Set to Put BAE Through Its Paces
THE TELEGRAPH: Defence giant BAE Systems is to set up an independent committee to probe its ethics in an attempt to head off a possible investigation by the United States' Congress into allegations it paid bribes to win contracts.
Senior Washington sources said the risk of a political backlash against Britain's biggest defence company in the US was growing.

They said it was likely BAE would have to attend Congressional hearings to answer questions about whether it made illegal payments to win a £40 billion deal, known as Al-Yamamah, with Saudi Arabia in the 1980s.
One source said: "America's defence industry will use this to move on BAE. BAE faces US inquiry into bribery allegations (more) By Katherine Griffiths

Anger at BAE move to set up scrutiny body By Katherine Griffiths

Why BAE wants to attack Saudi bribe claim By Russell Hotten

WATCH BBC VIDEO: BAE payments to Saudi prince

Timeline: BAE corruption probe

Mark Alexander

Drugs, Sex, and Booze Ensure that the Princes’ Parties Get Into Full Swing!
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: To Western eyes, Saudi Arabia's super-rich royal princes appear a confusing mix of pious Muslims and decadent playboys. But it is their distinctive approach to doing business that is now giving Britain a headache. David Harrison reports

Long after midnight, the party is in full swing, the music loud, the whisky and champagne flowing. In the penthouse suite at a five-star London hotel, six attractive young British women in short, tight dresses that leave little to the imagination, sashay between wealthy princes from Saudi Arabia, flirting and laughing more loudly than the Arabs' witticisms merit.
A silver dish of white powder, with matching spoon, is passed around. From time to time, a couple slips out of the suite only to reappear half an hour later and seek new friends. Others do not feel impelled to leave in order to share intimate moments and settle on a sofa or the four-poster in the main bedroom, oblivious of their fellow party-goers. We did it their way (more)

Mark Alexander

*Carne Ross’ Blog on the Possible Corruption Between BAE and the Saudi Government
THE GUARDIAN: The story of possible corruption between BAE and the Saudi government, and how the British government ignored it, is shocking. But we should not regard this episode as an aberration. Instead, it should force us to question the way foreign policy is thought about and practised in government today.

For decades British policy towards Saudi Arabia has been dominated by al-Yamamah, the massive BAE deal to provide aircraft and supplies. When I worked on the Middle East at the Foreign Office in the mid-90s, it was widely assumed that, along with uninterrupted oil supplies, this was what Britain's Saudi policy was "about". Any other concern, whether of human rights or the export of radical Wahhabi Islam, was by and large secondary.

This assumption was never questioned by officials or ministers. It was just the way things were. To think otherwise, that British policy - "our" policy as we called it (though it was never democratically debated, of course) - should be about human rights or Saudi Arabia's contribution to global security, would have been dismissed as naive or fanciful. We were just being realistic. To the blog - We could pay a grave price for our addiction to arms deals: Working at the Foreign Office I saw how exports took precedence over human rights. With the Saudis, this could backfire

* Carne Ross, a former diplomat, runs Independent Diplomat, a non-profit advisory group. He is the author of Independent Diplomat: Dispatches From an Unaccountable Elite Independentdiplomat.org

Mark Alexander

OECD Poised to Resume Inquiry into Why the British Government Abandoned Its Investigations Into the Allegations of Corruption in BAE
THE GUARDIAN: Attorney general urged to clarify role in concealing $1bn payments to prince

The government was last night fighting to contain the fallout over £1bn in payments to a Saudi prince as the attorney general came under renewed pressure to explain how much he knew about the affair.

While in public the government was issuing partial denials about its role in the controversy, in private there were desperate efforts to secure a new BAE £20bn arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

And any hopes that the furore could be halted were dashed last night when the Guardian learned that the world's anti-corruption organisation, the OECD, was poised to resume its own inquiry into why the British government suddenly abandoned its investigations into the £43bn al-Yamamah arms deal. The Bandar cover-up: who knew what, and when? (more) By David Leigh and Rob Evans

THE GUARDIAN:
BAE files: Shah of Iran

Prince used cash in BAE-linked account for palace: Former Saudi ambassador says $17m withdrawal was for legitimate expense

Mark Alexander

Blair Pushes for Deal with Saudis Despite the Growing Stink
THE TELEGRAPH: Tony Blair wants to sign a new £20 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia before he leaves office later this month despite the mounting row over allegations of secret payments to a Saudi prince, Government sources indicated yesterday.

Saudi Arabia had been on the brink of concluding the deal to supply Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Riyadh when fresh allegations emerged that BAE Systems had paid £1 billion in backhanders to Prince Bandar bin Sultan, former Saudi ambassador to the US.

The Prime Minister still hopes to clinch the deal before he leaves No 10 on June 27 - six months after the Serious Fraud Office was told to drop an investigation into the bribery allegations. Blair fends off row to ‘to press for Saudi deal’ (more) | George Jones

THE TIMES: Pressure mounts for Goldsmith to explain role in arms deal

Mark Alexander

”The Unlovable Saudis”
THE GUARDIAN: Willie Morris
[biography], the British ambassador from 1968 to 1972, could not stand the Saudis. They were "less lovable than some other people", he said.

The border guards were "rude". Despite their stern official religion, "one can find a minister incoherently drunk in his office before noon". Their oil billions led to a "corruption of character which enables the Saudis to regard the rest of the world as existing for their convenience", he wrote in his valedictory dispatch. [document] The unlovable Saudis (more)

THE GUARDIAN: Attorney-general knew of BAE and the £1bn. Then concealed it

BAE files: Ian Gilmour

Corruption in Saudi Arabia

BAE in Saudi Arabia

What BAE sells

Healey’s machine

Britain and the arms trade

Watch video: Denis Healey [BAE files]

BAE: Goldsmith denies BAE cash claim

Mark Alexander

Blair Determined Not to Let Principles Come in the Way of the BAE-Saudi Deal
TIMESONLINE: Tony Blair’s defiant rejection yesterday of calls for a new corruption inquiry into the al-Yamamah arms deal came only days after Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, was given private assurances from Saudi Arabia that it was pressing ahead with the latest lucrative contract with BAE Systems.

Mr Blair said that a new inquiry would lead to the “complete wreckage” of vital national interests as he faced down calls to reverse his decision to halt a Serious Fraud Office probe into the £40 billion Tornado aircraft deal. BAE inquiry ruled out days after secret trip (more)

Mark Alexander

More Allegations of Corruption: BAE in the Spotlight Once Again

Photo of Prince Bandar courtesy of Google Images

THE GUARDIAN: The arms company BAE secretly paid Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia more than £1bn in connection with Britain's biggest ever weapons contract, it is alleged today.

A series of payments from the British firm was allegedly channelled through a US bank in Washington to an account controlled by one of the most colourful members of the Saudi ruling clan, who spent 20 years as their ambassador in the US.

It is claimed that payments of £30m were paid to Prince Bandar every quarter for at least 10 years.

It is alleged by insider legal sources that the money was paid to Prince Bandar with the knowledge and authorisation of Ministry of Defence officials under the Blair government and its predecessors. For more than 20 years, ministers have claimed they knew nothing of secret commissions, which were outlawed by Britain in 2002. BAE accused of secretly paying £1bn to Saudi prince (more) By David Leigh and Rob Evans

THE GUARDIAN: BAE Files: Prince Bandar

Bribing for Britain

BAE’s position

BAE’s Corporate Responsibility Report

Read the documents

Campaign against the arms trade

Cast of characters

Who are David Leigh and Rob Evans

Secrets of Al-Yamamah

Prince Bandar: Biography

Prince Sultan: Biography

FINANCIAL TIMES: BAE 'secretly paid' Saudi prince: Bandar received £100m a year, reports say

TIMESONLINE: BAE shares fall amid new bribery allegations

THE TELEGRAPH: Blair: No new BAE probe despite bribe claims

BBC: Saudi prince 'received arms cash'

WATCH BBC VIDEO: Blair on BAE investigation

SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG: Riesiger Korruptionsskandal bringt Regierung Blair in Bedrängnis

LE MONDE: Un prince saoudien aurait perçu un milliard de livres de pots-de-vin de BAE Systems

TIMESONLINE: Blair under pressure over al-Yamamah 'bribes'

Mark Alexander

Wolfowitz: The more you dig, the dirtier it gets
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The cronyism that may cost him his World Bank job is also what caused the Iraq debacle.

The executive board of the World Bank mulled a possible vote of no confidence in the leadership of its president, Paul Wolfowitz, this weekend. How did the renowned neoconservative and former deputy secretary of defense, a primary architect of the Iraq war, come to these straits? Is he, as he claims, the victim of a smear campaign by those who dislike his politics? Or do the charges of favoritism and nepotism reflect genuine character flaws?

The small morality play unfolding at the World Bank tells us something significant about how the United States became bogged down in the Iraq quagmire when Wolfowitz was highly influential at the Department of Defense. The simple fact is that Wolfowitz has throughout his entire career demonstrated a penchant for cronyism and for smearing and marginalizing perceived rivals as tactics for getting his way. He has been arrogant and highhanded in dismissing the views of wiser and more informed experts, exhibiting a narcissism that is also apparent in his personal life. Indeed, these tactics are typical of what might be called the "neoconservative style." Paul Wolfowitz’s Fatal Weakness (more) By Juan Cole

Mark Alexander

Wolfowitz: Wolf-like Tactics at the Top
THE TELEGRAPH: Paul Wolfowitz, the embattled World Bank chief, launched into a threatening tirade against members of his staff when news of his controversial pay and promotion package for his girlfriend began to leak out, it emerged yesterday.

The revelation was one of the more damning elements of a 600-page report by a special investigative panel, which concluded that the scandal "had a dramatic, negative effect on the reputation and credibility" of the bank. Wolfowitz ‘threatened bank staff after leak’ (more)

TIMESONLINE: Shift in White House stance leaves Wolfowitz facing exit

FINANCIAL TIMES: White House signals change on Wolfowitz

“I implore each of you to be fair in making your decision, because your decision will not only affect my life, it will affect how this institution is viewed in the United States and the world” - Wolfowitz [Source: THE AUSTRALIAN]

THE AUSTRALIAN: Wolfowitz begs to stay at World Bank

DIE WELT: Zukunft von Wolfowitz in der Schwebe

FAZ: Wolfowitz will sich nur ändern, nicht abtreten

DIE PRESSE: Die Weltabank wird bedeutungslos

Mark Alexander

Tony Snow on Wolfowitz: A lot of mistakes were made but they were not a firing offence
BBC: The president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, is meeting the bank's 24-member executive board to respond to allegations against him.

The meeting comes after the panel said he broke bank rules by helping secure a pay rise for his girlfriend.

The board has the power to dismiss him or could choose to report a lack of confidence in his leadership.

Earlier in the day, the White House said it still supported Mr Wolfowitz, but added all options were still open.

"We've made clear that we support Paul Wolfowitz", said spokesman Tony Snow, but added that the bank's "best interests" also had to be served. World Bank hears Wolfowitz case (more)

Mark Alexander