Christian calls for inquest on Pinochet arms scandal
-16/09/05
Leading Christian peace campaigner Chris Cole, who is director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR) in the UK, has called for a ìthorough public investigationî into arms giant BAe Systems, following revelations today of big money payments to former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet.
Detailed scrutiny of US banking records by the recently relaunched Guardian newspaper, in cooperation with Chilean daily La Tercera, has identified BAe Systems as being implicated in secret payments to Pinochet of over £1 million.
It also indicates that some of the money was passed through a front company in the British Virgin Islands, used by BAe to channel commission on arms deals.
Speaking to Ekklesia yesterday, FoRís Chris Cole said that ìthe latest evidence of recent large scale payments to a mass murderer like General Pinochet should be another nail in the UK arms tradeís coffin.î
ìDespite constant reassurances that they are squeaky clean, these revelations show that BAe is still prepared to do underhand deals with anyone,î he continued.
Declared Mr Cole: ìIt is high time that a thorough and public investigation was made into all of BAe’s international arms trading – and it needs to be much wider than the current Serious Fraud Office (SFO) inquiry, which is very narrow in scope.î
The Guardian revelations coincide with the staging of Europe’s largest arms fair, being held in London’s Docklands from 13-16 September. It has been attracting strong protests.
The Serious Fraud Office is currently looking into accusations of money laundering and false accounting against BAe, Britainís large arms manufacturer, following allegations of a £60m Saudi ëslush fundí.
According to Chilean documents, BAe made payments into Coutts bank accounts under its own name, and under that of Red Diamond Trading, an offshore entity which does not appear on the companyís published accounts.
Documents obtained by the Guardian show it has been used since 1998 to funnel covert commission payments for aerospace deals to Argentina.
Ekklesia has been told that the weapons system connected to past Pinochet deals, called RAYO (Spanish for lightening), is a multiple launch rocket system. It was developed by Chilean company FAME together with Royal Ordnance, which became a BAe subsidiary in 1987.
General Pinochet came to power in a bloody coup in Chile in 1973 ñ what some refer to as ìthe other 9/11î. He is responsible for the death and disappearance of around 3000 people. He was defeated in a plebiscite in 1988 and lost power in 1990.
In 1998 Pinochet travelled to Britain for medical treatment. While there, he was arrested on a warrant from a Spanish judge and kept under house arrest for over a year, before eventually being released on medical grounds. He now faces charges again in Chile.
The Guardian has been researching BAe for some time. On 18 December 2004 it reported that a Senate investigation in Washington had found that up to 5 million US dollars was listed in Pinochet’s bank records, with some appearing to be linked to arms purchases from Royal Ordnance in the 1990s, including the RAYO deal.
As well as heading up the UK branch of Fellowship of Reconciliation, the international Christian pacifist movement, Chris Cole has worked for Campaign Against Arms Trade in Britain.
He was one of four protestors convicted of criminal damage in June 2005, after they dug graves in the lawn of the Ministry of Defence and sprayed ëRemember the Innocentí on the Christian feast of Holy Innocents in protest at the war in Iraq.
Christian calls for inquest on Pinochet arms scandal
-16/09/05
Leading Christian peace campaigner Chris Cole, who is director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR) in the UK, has called for a ‘thorough public investigation’ into arms giant BAe Systems, following revelations today of big money payments to former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet.
Detailed scrutiny of US banking records by the recently relaunched Guardian newspaper, in cooperation with Chilean daily La Tercera, has identified BAe Systems as being implicated in secret payments to Pinochet of over £1 million.
It also indicates that some of the money was passed through a front company in the British Virgin Islands, used by BAe to channel commission on arms deals.
Speaking to Ekklesia yesterday, FoR’s Chris Cole said that ‘the latest evidence of recent large scale payments to a mass murderer like General Pinochet should be another nail in the UK arms trade’s coffin.’
‘Despite constant reassurances that they are squeaky clean, these revelations show that BAe is still prepared to do underhand deals with anyone,’ he continued.
Declared Mr Cole: ‘It is high time that a thorough and public investigation was made into all of BAe’s international arms trading – and it needs to be much wider than the current Serious Fraud Office (SFO) inquiry, which is very narrow in scope.’
The Guardian revelations coincide with the staging of Europe’s largest arms fair, being held in London’s Docklands from 13-16 September. It has been attracting strong protests.
The Serious Fraud Office is currently looking into accusations of money laundering and false accounting against BAe, Britain’s large arms manufacturer, following allegations of a £60m Saudi ëslush fund’.
According to Chilean documents, BAe made payments into Coutts bank accounts under its own name, and under that of Red Diamond Trading, an offshore entity which does not appear on the company’s published accounts.
Documents obtained by the Guardian show it has been used since 1998 to funnel covert commission payments for aerospace deals to Argentina.
Ekklesia has been told that the weapons system connected to past Pinochet deals, called RAYO (Spanish for lightening), is a multiple launch rocket system. It was developed by Chilean company FAME together with Royal Ordnance, which became a BAe subsidiary in 1987.
General Pinochet came to power in a bloody coup in Chile in 1973 – what some refer to as ‘the other 9/11’. He is responsible for the death and disappearance of around 3000 people. He was defeated in a plebiscite in 1988 and lost power in 1990.
In 1998 Pinochet travelled to Britain for medical treatment. While there, he was arrested on a warrant from a Spanish judge and kept under house arrest for over a year, before eventually being released on medical grounds. He now faces charges again in Chile.
The Guardian has been researching BAe for some time. On 18 December 2004 it reported that a Senate investigation in Washington had found that up to 5 million US dollars was listed in Pinochet’s bank records, with some appearing to be linked to arms purchases from Royal Ordnance in the 1990s, including the RAYO deal.
As well as heading up the UK branch of Fellowship of Reconciliation, the international Christian pacifist movement, Chris Cole has worked for Campaign Against Arms Trade in Britain.
He was one of four protestors convicted of criminal damage in June 2005, after they dug graves in the lawn of the Ministry of Defence and sprayed ëRemember the Innocent’ on the Christian feast of Holy Innocents in protest at the war in Iraq.