BAE bought plane for Saudi prince under arms deal: report

[maddezmom]

Source: AFP

BAE bought plane for Saudi prince under arms deal: report 33 minutes ago



LONDON (AFP) - Britain's defence giant BAE bought Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan an Airbus plane under a multi-billion pound arms deal and is still paying the costs of flying it, the Guardian newspaper said Friday.

The latest allegation met with renewed denials of wrongdoing from BAE, which said it does not pay or receive bribes or "offer other improper inducements," although a spokesman declined to comment on the specific plane charge.

The newspaper last week alleged that BAE transferred secret payments totalling more than one billion pounds (two billion dollars) into accounts controlled by Prince Bandar as part of the Al-Yamamah arms deal signed in 1985.

On Friday the Guardian said the top-of-the-range, four-engine Airbus 340, worth 75 million pounds (150 million dollars), was painted in the silver and blue colours of the Dallas Cowboys, Bandar's favourite American football team.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070615/wl_mideast_afp/britainsaudioecd_070615104457

[babylonsister]

1. I don't want this story to drop; there's going to be some very interesting

people involved in this as it unravels.

[blm]

12. Yep - the continuation of BCCI. BushInc's crimewave of office that will not end.

I am surprised that it's being allowed on the front page - that is real progress for the anti-corruption wing of DU and the Dem party.

[starroute]

14. Don't forget that Bandar goes back to Iran-Contra

That was back in the days when he and Colin Powell used to play tennis together...

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2000/121900b.html

Weinberger was one of the first officials outside the White House to learn that Reagan had put the arm on Saudi Arabia to give the contras $1 million a month in 1984, as Congress was cutting off the CIA's covert assistance through what was known as the Boland Amendment.

Handling the contra-funding arrangements was Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar, a close friend of both Weinberger and Powell. Bandar and Powell had met in the 1970s and were frequent tennis partners in the 1980s. . . .

In 1985, when the Saudis doubled their annual contra gift from $12 million to $25 million, Vessey quickly passed on word to Weinberger again. This time, the record is clear that the Defense Secretary understood that the contribution to buy weapons was part of the larger contra-aid strategy.

"Jack Vessey in office alone," Weinberger wrote on March 13, 1985. "Bandar is giving $25 million to Contras -- so all we need is non-lethal aid."


(On edit: It increasingly seems that, just as the CIA was dominated for 30 years by an Old Boys Network of OSS veterans, so the Iran-Contra Old Boys Network has been dominating covert US dealings since the 80's.)

[blm]

15. Recently saw a pic of Weinberger with his good frien Henry Grunwald

from TIME, who passed away a couple years ago.

Henry's daughter is Mandy Grunwald, the longtime Clinton insider, married to Matt Cooper, one of the reporters who protected Rove and the WH when he knew since June 2003 that they lied about outing Plame but kept silent while the WH smeared Wilson as the liar for the 16 months before the election.

Mandy also worked for Lieberman campaign in 2004. Interesting - especially when you realize that IranContra and BCCI matters somehow slipped completely off the radar screen in 1993.

[BikeWriter]

2. K&R

[UpInArms]

3. didn't bLIEr say that this deal should be blamed on him?

why would he be to blame for a deal done in the 80s?

[maddezmom]

4. I think it's taking blame for the cover up not the actual deal

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2879500

:shrug:

[UpInArms]

6. so the continuation of a crime and its ongoing coverup is

what bLIEr is attempting?

[maddezmom]

19. that is the way it looks to me

he was still trying to stifle the investigation when he held his presser with bush at the G-8, but the papers kept publishing the info.

[formercia]

5. Don't forget the people at Riggs Bank that made this all possible

by having a safe and discreet environment to transfer funds. These Crusader Banks have been playing this game for a long time.
The banking system as we know it began during the Crusades when pilgrims needed a safe way to transfer funds on their way to the Holy Land. Pilgrims would transfer currency and other items of value in Europe, a letter of credit was then issued to them so that they could withdraw funds as needed on their journey. Doing this reduced the danger of being robbed en route. The Knights became very wealthy as a result.

[Lars39]

7. K&R

:kick: for more exposure.

[CJCRANE]

8. As the plane was paid for by BAE

(formerly British Aerospace) surely to show his gratitude he should have painted it in the colors of a British football team?

:shrug:

[Spazito]

9. This is fascinating to follow, it is like an octopus with it's many

"arms" pointing to much of the corruption going back to Thatcher while threatening to expose the bush family criminal activities past and present.

Thanks for posting this.

Recommended.

[blm]

17. One continuing crime spree -

and why there were MANY players who needed to keep Kerry OUT of the oval office.

Bushes AND their Dem allies.

[KoKo]

10. "Secret payments totaling more than 2 BILLION DOLLARS?

Plus a personal Plane painted with colors of Dallas Cowboys? All for Bandar/Bush? :wow:

[entanglement]

11. BAE contracts in 6 countries are under investigation for "suspected international corruption", btw

n/t

[neverforget]

13. Thank God that the British media is on this because our reporters

are too busy pleasuring their corporate and political masters.

[blm]

18. The press is being as diligent with this as they were on BCCI - gee, and all we got from that

neglect was Bush2, 9-11, and this Iraq war. That's all.

[BornagainDUer]

16. K&R! If pursued this scandal could reveal alot.

[maddezmom]

20. BAE 'paid for Saudi prince's daughter to go on honeymoon': report

BAE 'paid for Saudi prince's daughter to go on honeymoon': report 13 minutes ago



LONDON (AFP) - British defence firm BAE Systems secretly paid 250,000 pounds for the daughter of a Saudi prince at the centre of bribery allegations to go on a luxury honeymoon, The Sunday Times newspaper reported.

(Advertisement)
The weekly said a senior BAE executive authorised the payment to Prince Bandar bin Sultan's daughter and her husband to enjoy a six-week break in Singapore, Malaysia, Bali, Australia and Hawaii.

It quoted Peter Gardiner, the managing director of the travel firm that arranged the trip, as saying: "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?"

It was not clear whether Gardiner spoke directly to the newspaper but Gardiner has previously spoken out in the long-running claims surrounding BAE Systems attempts to secure defence contracts with the oil-rich Gulf kingdom.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070617/wl_uk_afp/britainsaudioecdcorruptionweaponscompanybae_070617155759