News / National
British funds helped Mugabe suppress dissent
09 May 2012 at 14:14hrs | Views
LONDON - Britain's arms industry and other companies are to be called before politicians to explain why taxpayer funds ended up helping President Robert Mugabe buy five Hawk fighter jets and 1 030 police Land Rovers which he later used to suppress dissent.
The bosses of the world's biggest defence and oil companies, including BAE Systems and BP, will be asked to account for why hundreds of millions of pounds of government money was used to help military dictators build up their arsenals, and facilitate environmental and human rights abuses across the world.
An official inquiry into the government Export Credits Guarantee Department's underwriting of the loans will begin to call witnesses next week, The Guardian has learnt.
The all-party parliamentary group on international corporate responsibility will investigate more than 40 years of the government's involvement in supporting dubious practices overseas.
Among the catalogue of ethically questionable deals was £35 million lent to Zimbabwe to buy five Hawk fighter jets from BAE Systems between 1989 and 1992.
Zimbabwe, which was already heavily indebted, spent £49 million repaying the cost of the Hawks, according to a response to a freedom of information request from the Jubilee Debt Campaign seen by The Guardian.
Mugabe's government deployed the jets in the 1998-2002 war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa's most deadly conflict in modern history, which led to 5,4 million deaths.
At the time of deployment, the British government approved Zimbabwe's purchase of spare parts worth £5 million to £10 million despite concerns the aircraft were being used in the deadly Congo war, according to the journal Africana Bulletin.
The department also supplied Mugabe with £21 million of loan guarantees to help him import 1 030 police Land Rovers and other military equipment. Mugabe promised they would be used "with due respect for human rights", but Amnesty International said they were used to crush demonstrations.
The department also supported the al-Yamamah "oil for arms" deal with Saudi Arabia, for which BAE was investigated by the Serious Fraud Office amid allegations of bribery and corruption.
The government loans also allowed the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and his predecessor Anwar Sadat, to buy arms, and helped Argentina buy two Type 42 Destroyers and two helicopters, which were later used in the invasion of the Falklands.
The bosses of the world's biggest defence and oil companies, including BAE Systems and BP, will be asked to account for why hundreds of millions of pounds of government money was used to help military dictators build up their arsenals, and facilitate environmental and human rights abuses across the world.
An official inquiry into the government Export Credits Guarantee Department's underwriting of the loans will begin to call witnesses next week, The Guardian has learnt.
The all-party parliamentary group on international corporate responsibility will investigate more than 40 years of the government's involvement in supporting dubious practices overseas.
Among the catalogue of ethically questionable deals was £35 million lent to Zimbabwe to buy five Hawk fighter jets from BAE Systems between 1989 and 1992.
Mugabe's government deployed the jets in the 1998-2002 war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa's most deadly conflict in modern history, which led to 5,4 million deaths.
At the time of deployment, the British government approved Zimbabwe's purchase of spare parts worth £5 million to £10 million despite concerns the aircraft were being used in the deadly Congo war, according to the journal Africana Bulletin.
The department also supplied Mugabe with £21 million of loan guarantees to help him import 1 030 police Land Rovers and other military equipment. Mugabe promised they would be used "with due respect for human rights", but Amnesty International said they were used to crush demonstrations.
The department also supported the al-Yamamah "oil for arms" deal with Saudi Arabia, for which BAE was investigated by the Serious Fraud Office amid allegations of bribery and corruption.
The government loans also allowed the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and his predecessor Anwar Sadat, to buy arms, and helped Argentina buy two Type 42 Destroyers and two helicopters, which were later used in the invasion of the Falklands.
Source - Guardian News & Media
