Daily Times
6 October 2009
By Zakir Hassnain
PESHAWAR: The opposition in the NWFP Assembly on Monday said that Blackwater, a foreign security agency, was involved in unknown activities in Peshawar and other districts, adding that the matter be debated in the House to reveal the facts about its existence in the province.
Tabling an adjournment motion, Dr Iqbal Din Fana of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) said the infamous agency was operating with a new name, Xe, and renting offices in the posh areas of Peshawar and other districts.
“People have reservations about it and unrest is growing,” said Dr Iqbal.
Quoting an Urdu newspaper reports, the JUI leader said Xe had set up offices in Shabqadar tehsil and was purchasing land. He said the security agency’s official Craig Davis, who was expelled from Pakistan, was illegally living in the city.
Dr Iqbal said Blackwater was in the area with the government’s permission and therefore the government should tell the House what its (foreign agency’s) activities and objectives were. He demanded the government ban and monitor the activities of Blackwater in the province.
Leader of the Opposition and JUI-F parliamentary leader Muhammad Akram Khan Durani said it was an important issue and therefore it should be debated in the House.
06 October, 2009
05 October, 2009
Kenya Linked to Congo Norwegian Mercenaries.
Daily Nation
4 October 2009
By Dominic Wabala And Agencies
Nairobi — Two Norwegian security consultants sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo a month ago had secured a contract to train an elite Kenyan security squad.
But before they could take up the contract, they were arrested in the DRC and convicted by a Kisangani military court on various counts of murder, spying for a foreign country, conspiracy to murder, formation of a criminal association, armed robbery and possession of weapons of war.
According to Norwegian and Congolese press reports, Mr Tjostolv Moland, 28, and Mr Joshua French, 27, were arrested in Kisangani after killing a taxi driver, Mr Abeidi Kasongo.
The two were in the process of establishing a private "security operation" covering a large area in eastern Africa, and had been contacted by an unidentified Kenyan security official who claimed to be a staffer at the Kenya embassy in the Congo.
They signed with him an agreement to train a 120-man elite security squad which would be responsible for high-level VIP protection, among other duties.
Trust criminals
They were arrested in Okapi National Park. Moland was given five death sentences on charges of murder, attempted murder and espionage, while French got four death sentences on similar charges.
State House on Sunday denied reports that the Norwegians had won a contract to train an elite squad.
Presidential Press Service director Isaiah Kabira said on phone: "We do not know them and our security are professionally trained by people of good conduct. We cannot trust criminals with such a duty."
According to a Norwegian media outlet, TV2, the two, along with the head of the Special Intervention Group (SIG) Torgier Friksen were scheduled to start training the elite Kenyan police squad in an operation codenamed "Project Kilo".
The Kenya Police and Administration Police also denied working with any Norwegian security group to train a special force.
"We have no such arrangements with a Norwegian group. Most of our training is done with British and American partners," said AP spokesman Masood Mwinyi.
Contract documents seen by Norwegian TV2 show that SIG was to be issued with weapons by the Kenyan government.
The group, which has offices in Norway and Britain, was to train the special elite force "to neutralise enemy soldiers, destroy tactical and strategic goals, and monitor and rescue hostages".
Their lawyer Morten Furuholmen told TV2 that he was aware of the former soldiers' plan in Kenya but that it turned out that the contact person had not been authorised to sign the deal yet.
4 October 2009
By Dominic Wabala And Agencies
Nairobi — Two Norwegian security consultants sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo a month ago had secured a contract to train an elite Kenyan security squad.
But before they could take up the contract, they were arrested in the DRC and convicted by a Kisangani military court on various counts of murder, spying for a foreign country, conspiracy to murder, formation of a criminal association, armed robbery and possession of weapons of war.
According to Norwegian and Congolese press reports, Mr Tjostolv Moland, 28, and Mr Joshua French, 27, were arrested in Kisangani after killing a taxi driver, Mr Abeidi Kasongo.
The two were in the process of establishing a private "security operation" covering a large area in eastern Africa, and had been contacted by an unidentified Kenyan security official who claimed to be a staffer at the Kenya embassy in the Congo.
They signed with him an agreement to train a 120-man elite security squad which would be responsible for high-level VIP protection, among other duties.
Trust criminals
They were arrested in Okapi National Park. Moland was given five death sentences on charges of murder, attempted murder and espionage, while French got four death sentences on similar charges.
State House on Sunday denied reports that the Norwegians had won a contract to train an elite squad.
Presidential Press Service director Isaiah Kabira said on phone: "We do not know them and our security are professionally trained by people of good conduct. We cannot trust criminals with such a duty."
According to a Norwegian media outlet, TV2, the two, along with the head of the Special Intervention Group (SIG) Torgier Friksen were scheduled to start training the elite Kenyan police squad in an operation codenamed "Project Kilo".
The Kenya Police and Administration Police also denied working with any Norwegian security group to train a special force.
"We have no such arrangements with a Norwegian group. Most of our training is done with British and American partners," said AP spokesman Masood Mwinyi.
Contract documents seen by Norwegian TV2 show that SIG was to be issued with weapons by the Kenyan government.
The group, which has offices in Norway and Britain, was to train the special elite force "to neutralise enemy soldiers, destroy tactical and strategic goals, and monitor and rescue hostages".
Their lawyer Morten Furuholmen told TV2 that he was aware of the former soldiers' plan in Kenya but that it turned out that the contact person had not been authorised to sign the deal yet.
04 October, 2009
South Sudan to build its first oil refinery in Warrap state.
Sudan Tribune
4 October 2009
By James Gatdet Dak
The semi-autonomous region of Southern Sudan has embarked on building its first ever oil refinery in Warrap state for its huge oil reserves as the clock ticks towards referendum on secession in January 2011.
Sudan currently produces more than 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day which bring tens of millions of US dollars on daily basis from the international market.
Most of the Sudan’s oil is produced from the oilfields located in Southern Sudan while the current country’s refineries are all located in Northern Sudan.
98% of Southern Sudan’s overall revenues that constitute the annual budgets for the region come from the 50% share of the oil produced in Upper Nile and Unity states in accordance with the 2005’s peace deal between North and South.
In its Friday meeting chaired by the Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny, the Council of Ministers passed a resolution on the project for building the oil refinery in Southern Sudan that will be located in a place called Akon in North-western Gogrial area of Warrap state.
The project was initiated and presented to the cabinet meeting by the Minister of Energy and Mining, John Luk Jok.
The huge refinery project which is expected to take about three years to complete from the date it kicks off at the construction site will begin by establishing a Joint Venture Company (JVC) with any oil companies interested to partner with the government, finding financiers to fund the project and then JVC finally signing a contract with a national or international company that will implement the project on the ground.
According to a press statement by the official spokesperson and Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Paul Mayom Akech, the crude oil that is targeted for refinery will be extracted from Block 5A oilfield in Unity state.
To transport the crude oil to Akon refinery site, Minister Mayom explained that the Company will also construct a pipeline of some hundreds of kilometers long from the Unity state oilfield.
Mayom said the Government of Southern Sudan will have the biggest share in the $10 million worth JVC ownership body and the share will be represented by the Southern Sudan indigenous Nilepet oil company.
After formation of the JVC and securing of funds, the Company would then advertise the project to any interested national and international companies that would be subjected to competitive bidding process and out of which a winner will sign a contract with the JVC to technically implement the project on the ground.
Tens of thousands of indigenous people of Southern Sudan are expected to benefit from the project as they will be employed to do most of the labor work at the construction sites.
The cost for implementing such an expensive single project is not yet known, but may run into billions of dollars.
The Council of Ministers also directed the Minister of Energy and Mining to discuss the possibility of building refineries at the sites of the oilfields in Upper Nile and Unity states with any major oil companies that may be interested.
The semi-autonomous region earlier resolved to also embark on a separate project to build an alternative pipeline from Southern Sudan to Port Mombassa in Kenya for transporting the crude oil to the international markets.
Currently the crude oil from Southern Sudan is being transported to the international market via Port Sudan in the far North-eastern part of the country through the thousands of kilometers long Chinese-constructed pipeline.
Mayom said the Government stressed the importance of indigenizing the operations of the oil sector so that “Southern Sudan is not caught up” in case it chooses secession in 2011.
Editor's Note: As part of the regional integration plan, some oil industry insiders are pitching the idea of connecting Uganda and South Sudan's oil sectors if South Sudan becomes independent.
4 October 2009
By James Gatdet Dak
The semi-autonomous region of Southern Sudan has embarked on building its first ever oil refinery in Warrap state for its huge oil reserves as the clock ticks towards referendum on secession in January 2011.
Sudan currently produces more than 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day which bring tens of millions of US dollars on daily basis from the international market.
Most of the Sudan’s oil is produced from the oilfields located in Southern Sudan while the current country’s refineries are all located in Northern Sudan.
98% of Southern Sudan’s overall revenues that constitute the annual budgets for the region come from the 50% share of the oil produced in Upper Nile and Unity states in accordance with the 2005’s peace deal between North and South.
In its Friday meeting chaired by the Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny, the Council of Ministers passed a resolution on the project for building the oil refinery in Southern Sudan that will be located in a place called Akon in North-western Gogrial area of Warrap state.
The project was initiated and presented to the cabinet meeting by the Minister of Energy and Mining, John Luk Jok.
The huge refinery project which is expected to take about three years to complete from the date it kicks off at the construction site will begin by establishing a Joint Venture Company (JVC) with any oil companies interested to partner with the government, finding financiers to fund the project and then JVC finally signing a contract with a national or international company that will implement the project on the ground.
According to a press statement by the official spokesperson and Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Paul Mayom Akech, the crude oil that is targeted for refinery will be extracted from Block 5A oilfield in Unity state.
To transport the crude oil to Akon refinery site, Minister Mayom explained that the Company will also construct a pipeline of some hundreds of kilometers long from the Unity state oilfield.
Mayom said the Government of Southern Sudan will have the biggest share in the $10 million worth JVC ownership body and the share will be represented by the Southern Sudan indigenous Nilepet oil company.
After formation of the JVC and securing of funds, the Company would then advertise the project to any interested national and international companies that would be subjected to competitive bidding process and out of which a winner will sign a contract with the JVC to technically implement the project on the ground.
Tens of thousands of indigenous people of Southern Sudan are expected to benefit from the project as they will be employed to do most of the labor work at the construction sites.
The cost for implementing such an expensive single project is not yet known, but may run into billions of dollars.
The Council of Ministers also directed the Minister of Energy and Mining to discuss the possibility of building refineries at the sites of the oilfields in Upper Nile and Unity states with any major oil companies that may be interested.
The semi-autonomous region earlier resolved to also embark on a separate project to build an alternative pipeline from Southern Sudan to Port Mombassa in Kenya for transporting the crude oil to the international markets.
Currently the crude oil from Southern Sudan is being transported to the international market via Port Sudan in the far North-eastern part of the country through the thousands of kilometers long Chinese-constructed pipeline.
Mayom said the Government stressed the importance of indigenizing the operations of the oil sector so that “Southern Sudan is not caught up” in case it chooses secession in 2011.
Editor's Note: As part of the regional integration plan, some oil industry insiders are pitching the idea of connecting Uganda and South Sudan's oil sectors if South Sudan becomes independent.
Norwegian mercenaries set up base in Kampala, sought to train Nkunda.
-According to the source that supplied it, this document was reportedly found in the computer of Mr. Moeland.
Sunday Monitor
4 October 2009
Two Norwegian mercenaries sentenced to death in DR Congo for murder and espionage had set up base in Kampala City for four months without the knowledge of security agencies, Sunday Monitor can reveal.
The mercenaries had been conducting military training activities at Sissa on Entebbe Road, according to media reports in Norway. They also tried to open up a private security firm in Kampala. Sunday Monitor has also learnt that Tjostolv Moland and Joshua French while in Kampala lived in the posh residential suburb of Buziga at a tourist camp called Back Packers.
Editor's Note: A Norwegian source claim that these same mercenaries were trying to negotiate a contract with Laurent Nkunda to train his CNDP troops for commando and military intelligence operations (see above). In addition, Ugandan sources stated that Nkunda's brother was seen in Kampala prior to his arrest, and even stayed at a house on the road from Kampala to Entebbe for a while.
Iran is home to the biggest population of Jews in the Middle East outside Israel.
Daily Telegraph
by Damien McElroy
3 October 2009
Iran is home to the biggest population of Jews in the Middle East outside Israel. While the community faces limited discrimination, it is largely free to exercise the same rights as Muslims enjoy in the Islamic republic.
Like the country's Armenian, Assyrian and Zoroastrian minorities, it has one reserved seat in parliament.
Jews trace their presence in Iran from the point that Cyrus the Great liberated the people from slavery in Babylon in 593BC. There are about 25,000 left in Iran. Tehran has 20 active synagogues. But the Jewish population has dwindled rapidly since an Islamic theocracy was established. At the end of the Shah's reign, there were an estimated 100,000 Jews. Esther, the legendary empress and wife of Ahasuerus, was Jewish.
The community played a prominent role in commercial life and supplied several prime ministers. Sensitive posts in the judiciary and military are barred from Jews.
Maurice Motamed, the country's Jewish MP, has criticised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements on the Holocaust but is otherwise a staunch supporter of the president's foreign and security policies. "I am an Iranian first and a Jew second," he said.
by Damien McElroy
3 October 2009
Iran is home to the biggest population of Jews in the Middle East outside Israel. While the community faces limited discrimination, it is largely free to exercise the same rights as Muslims enjoy in the Islamic republic.
Like the country's Armenian, Assyrian and Zoroastrian minorities, it has one reserved seat in parliament.
Jews trace their presence in Iran from the point that Cyrus the Great liberated the people from slavery in Babylon in 593BC. There are about 25,000 left in Iran. Tehran has 20 active synagogues. But the Jewish population has dwindled rapidly since an Islamic theocracy was established. At the end of the Shah's reign, there were an estimated 100,000 Jews. Esther, the legendary empress and wife of Ahasuerus, was Jewish.
The community played a prominent role in commercial life and supplied several prime ministers. Sensitive posts in the judiciary and military are barred from Jews.
Maurice Motamed, the country's Jewish MP, has criticised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements on the Holocaust but is otherwise a staunch supporter of the president's foreign and security policies. "I am an Iranian first and a Jew second," he said.
03 October, 2009
Mysterious, unregistered security firm policing Montana town.
Raw Story/Associated Press
October 3, 2009
A mysterious, reportedly unregistered and almost entirely unknown private security firm by the name "American Police Force" is causing a stir in a small Montana town for apparently impersonating local police.
According to a local media report, APF representatives were recently seen in the tiny town of Hardin, Montana, driving black SUV's with a peculiar logo and, inexplicably, "City of Hardin Police Department" stamped on the door.
However, Hardin does not have a police force.
The town instead contracts with the Big Horn County Sheriff's Department for patrols, according to KULR 8 in Billings, Montana.
According to the news agency, APF was never given permission to assume policing duties. Instead, the firm -- which the Associated Press reported to be unregistered in government databases -- gained its contract with the town on the promise of bringing inmates to an unpopulated prison complex.
An image on KULR's Web site shows the insignia on the APF vehicles, which has caused some concern on the Internet as being of conspiratorial origin.
APF's coat of arms, a clearer version of which appeared on the group's Web site (which had been taken down at time of this writing but is viewable here), shows a double-headed eagle with a red shield and white cross borne on its breast.
The coat appears very similar to the insignia attributed to one Prince Aleksandar Karageorgevich, based on RAW STORY's analysis of images hosted by Burke's Peerage & Gentry International Register of Arms. The site notes the coat as hailing from the Royal crown of Serbia.
However, the significance or implied nationality of the insignia's crown could not immediately be identified.
The double-headed eagle itself has been used repeatedly throughout history by many cultures as a symbol of empire, dominance and power.
Hardin, home to about 3,400 people, is in the state’s poorest county. Its unoccupied, 460-bed prison cost $27 million to construct. The town made national headlines earlier this year when local officials pleaded to have Guantanamo Bay inmates sent to the jail.
Montana Democratic Senator Max Baucus and other Republican lawmakers have stood in the way of moving Guantanamo inmates stateside, claiming they would present an increased security risk. The political calculation has led the White House to caution that its promise to close the controversial facility in January may not materialize on schedule.
An Associated Press report on American Police Force, published Sept. 12, 2009, follows.
-- Stephen C. Webster
AP ENTERPRISE: Montana jail deal raises questions
AP ENTERPRISE: Questions emerge about company promising to bring inmates to small Montana town
MATTHEW BROWN
AP News
Sep 12, 2009 16:17 EST
The Two Rivers Detention Center was promoted as the largest economic development project in decades in the small town of Hardin when the jail was built two years ago. But it has been vacant ever since.
City officials have searched from Vermont to Alaska for inmate contracts to fill the jail, only to be turned down at every turn and see the bonds that financed its construction fall into default. They even floated the idea of housing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay at the jail.
So when Hardin officials announced this week that they had signed a deal with a California company to fill the empty jail, it was naturally a cause for celebration. Town officials talked about throwing a party to mark the occasion, their dreams of economic salvation a step closer to being realized.
But questions are emerging over the legitimacy of the company, American Police Force.
Government contract databases show no record of the company. Security industry representatives and federal officials said they had never heard of it. On its Web site, the company lists as its headquarters a building in Washington near the White House that holds "virtual offices." A spokeswoman for the building said American Police Force never completed its application to use the address.
And it's unclear where the company will get the inmates for the jail. Montana says it's not sending inmates to the jail, and neither are federal officials in the state.
An attorney for American Police Force, Maziar Mafi, describes the Santa Ana, Calif., company as a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984. But Mafi declined to name the parent firm or provide details on how the company will finance its jail operations.
"It will gradually be more clear as things go along," said Mafi, a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer in Santa Ana who was only hired by American Police Force a month ago. "The nature of this entity is private security and for security purposes, as well as for the interest of their clientele, that's why they prefer not to be upfront."
On its elaborate Web site and in interviews with company representatives, American Police Force claims to sell assault rifles and other weapons in Afghanistan on behalf of the U.S. military while providing security, investigative work and other services to clients "in all 50 states and most countries."
The company also boasts to have "rapid response units awaiting our orders worldwide" and that it can field a battalion-sized team of special forces soldiers "within 72 hours."
Representatives of American Police Force said the company presently employs at least 16 and as many as 28 people in the United States and 1,600 contractors worldwide.
"APF plays a critical role in helping the U.S. government meet vital homeland security and national defense needs," the company says on its Web site. "Within the last 5 years the United States has been far and away our" number 1 client.
However, an Associated Press search of two comprehensive federal government contractor databases turned up no record of American Police Force.
Representatives of security trade groups said they had never heard of American Police Force, although they added secrecy was prevalent in the industry and it was possible the company had avoided the public limelight.
"They're really invisible," said Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel for the Professional Services Council. The group's members include major security contractors Triple Canopy, DynCorp and Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide.
"Even a single unclassified contract in the last couple of years should show up" in the federal database, Chvotkin added.
Spokesmen for the State Department and Defense Department said they could not immediately find any records of contracts with the company. The city has not released a copy of its agreement with American Police Force. But the deal as announced would be a sweet one for Hardin, a depressed rural town of 3,500 about 45 miles east of Billings.
The company is pledging to fill the 464-bed facility by early next year.
Hardin officials say the first payment on the contract is due Feb. 1 — regardless of whether any prisoners are in place. The city's economic development authority would get enough money to pay off the bondholders and receive $5 per prison a day.
American Police Force also is promising to invest $30 million in new projects for the city, including a military and law enforcement training center with a 250-bed dormitory and an expansion of the jail to 2,000 beds. The company says it will build a homeless shelter, offer free health care for city residents and even deliver meals to the needy.
Where the prisoners would come from is unclear. City officials said California was the most likely possibility, but a spokesman for that state's corrections system said there was no truth to the claim.
Federal prisoners also were mentioned by both American Police Force and the city. U.S. Marshal Dwight MacKay in Billings said he would have been notified if such a plan was pending.
"There's skepticism over whether this is a real thing," MacKay said.
Hardin officials said they were approached by American Police Force about six months ago, soon after the city made international news in its quest to become "America's Gitmo." American Police Force incorporated around the same time.
Albert Peterson, the city's school superintendent and vice president of the authority that built the jail, said the city was "guaranteed" the contract would be upheld.
"There's never a question in my mind after I've done my homework. It's legit," Peterson said of American Police Force. "We believe in each other."
The contract was still being reviewed by the city attorney, he said.
Peterson refused to answer when asked if he knew the name of American Police Force's parent firm. He said news coverage of the city's political tussles with the administration of Gov. Brian Schweitzer had left him suspicious of the press. The administration brought a court challenge over whether Hardin could take out-of-state inmates at the jail.
"If you're looking for the source of the money, you're not going to find it from me," Peterson said.
A member of the Texas consortium that developed the jail, Mike Harling, said he had "every reason to believe they'll be successful."
Mafi, the American Police Force attorney, said his company intends to reverse Hardin's recent problems with the jail and give the town an economic boost.
In Santa Ana, American Police Force occupies a single suite on the second floor of a two-story office building. During a visit to the location Thursday, a reporter for The Associated Press encountered a uniformed man behind a desk who would identify himself only as "Captain Michael."
The man declined to discuss basic details about the company and referred the reporter to the company's Web site. In a subsequent phone interview, he provided his surname but insisted it not be used because of security concerns. The man said he was a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Montenegro with decades of experience in military and law enforcement operations.
The man said his boss is a retired U.S. Army colonel named Richard Culver who is currently overseas. Culver's role with the company could not be immediately verified.
The company claim of a headquarters address is just up the street from the White House.
The K Street building houses "virtual offices," where clients pay to use the prestigious Pennsylvania Avenue address and gain access to onsite conference rooms but have no permanent presence.
"It lets small businesses get started up and have a professional front and not have a lot of a cash to do it," said Ashley Korner with Preferred Offices, which leases the location.
She said American Police Force's application to use the address was pending, but incomplete.
___
Associated Press Writer Amy Taxin contributed to this story from Santa Ana.
___
On the Net:
American Private Police Force: http://www.americanpolicegroup.com
October 3, 2009
A mysterious, reportedly unregistered and almost entirely unknown private security firm by the name "American Police Force" is causing a stir in a small Montana town for apparently impersonating local police.
According to a local media report, APF representatives were recently seen in the tiny town of Hardin, Montana, driving black SUV's with a peculiar logo and, inexplicably, "City of Hardin Police Department" stamped on the door.
However, Hardin does not have a police force.
The town instead contracts with the Big Horn County Sheriff's Department for patrols, according to KULR 8 in Billings, Montana.
According to the news agency, APF was never given permission to assume policing duties. Instead, the firm -- which the Associated Press reported to be unregistered in government databases -- gained its contract with the town on the promise of bringing inmates to an unpopulated prison complex.
An image on KULR's Web site shows the insignia on the APF vehicles, which has caused some concern on the Internet as being of conspiratorial origin.
APF's coat of arms, a clearer version of which appeared on the group's Web site (which had been taken down at time of this writing but is viewable here), shows a double-headed eagle with a red shield and white cross borne on its breast.
The coat appears very similar to the insignia attributed to one Prince Aleksandar Karageorgevich, based on RAW STORY's analysis of images hosted by Burke's Peerage & Gentry International Register of Arms. The site notes the coat as hailing from the Royal crown of Serbia.
However, the significance or implied nationality of the insignia's crown could not immediately be identified.
The double-headed eagle itself has been used repeatedly throughout history by many cultures as a symbol of empire, dominance and power.
Hardin, home to about 3,400 people, is in the state’s poorest county. Its unoccupied, 460-bed prison cost $27 million to construct. The town made national headlines earlier this year when local officials pleaded to have Guantanamo Bay inmates sent to the jail.
Montana Democratic Senator Max Baucus and other Republican lawmakers have stood in the way of moving Guantanamo inmates stateside, claiming they would present an increased security risk. The political calculation has led the White House to caution that its promise to close the controversial facility in January may not materialize on schedule.
An Associated Press report on American Police Force, published Sept. 12, 2009, follows.
-- Stephen C. Webster
AP ENTERPRISE: Montana jail deal raises questions
AP ENTERPRISE: Questions emerge about company promising to bring inmates to small Montana town
MATTHEW BROWN
AP News
Sep 12, 2009 16:17 EST
The Two Rivers Detention Center was promoted as the largest economic development project in decades in the small town of Hardin when the jail was built two years ago. But it has been vacant ever since.
City officials have searched from Vermont to Alaska for inmate contracts to fill the jail, only to be turned down at every turn and see the bonds that financed its construction fall into default. They even floated the idea of housing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay at the jail.
So when Hardin officials announced this week that they had signed a deal with a California company to fill the empty jail, it was naturally a cause for celebration. Town officials talked about throwing a party to mark the occasion, their dreams of economic salvation a step closer to being realized.
But questions are emerging over the legitimacy of the company, American Police Force.
Government contract databases show no record of the company. Security industry representatives and federal officials said they had never heard of it. On its Web site, the company lists as its headquarters a building in Washington near the White House that holds "virtual offices." A spokeswoman for the building said American Police Force never completed its application to use the address.
And it's unclear where the company will get the inmates for the jail. Montana says it's not sending inmates to the jail, and neither are federal officials in the state.
An attorney for American Police Force, Maziar Mafi, describes the Santa Ana, Calif., company as a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984. But Mafi declined to name the parent firm or provide details on how the company will finance its jail operations.
"It will gradually be more clear as things go along," said Mafi, a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer in Santa Ana who was only hired by American Police Force a month ago. "The nature of this entity is private security and for security purposes, as well as for the interest of their clientele, that's why they prefer not to be upfront."
On its elaborate Web site and in interviews with company representatives, American Police Force claims to sell assault rifles and other weapons in Afghanistan on behalf of the U.S. military while providing security, investigative work and other services to clients "in all 50 states and most countries."
The company also boasts to have "rapid response units awaiting our orders worldwide" and that it can field a battalion-sized team of special forces soldiers "within 72 hours."
Representatives of American Police Force said the company presently employs at least 16 and as many as 28 people in the United States and 1,600 contractors worldwide.
"APF plays a critical role in helping the U.S. government meet vital homeland security and national defense needs," the company says on its Web site. "Within the last 5 years the United States has been far and away our" number 1 client.
However, an Associated Press search of two comprehensive federal government contractor databases turned up no record of American Police Force.
Representatives of security trade groups said they had never heard of American Police Force, although they added secrecy was prevalent in the industry and it was possible the company had avoided the public limelight.
"They're really invisible," said Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel for the Professional Services Council. The group's members include major security contractors Triple Canopy, DynCorp and Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide.
"Even a single unclassified contract in the last couple of years should show up" in the federal database, Chvotkin added.
Spokesmen for the State Department and Defense Department said they could not immediately find any records of contracts with the company. The city has not released a copy of its agreement with American Police Force. But the deal as announced would be a sweet one for Hardin, a depressed rural town of 3,500 about 45 miles east of Billings.
The company is pledging to fill the 464-bed facility by early next year.
Hardin officials say the first payment on the contract is due Feb. 1 — regardless of whether any prisoners are in place. The city's economic development authority would get enough money to pay off the bondholders and receive $5 per prison a day.
American Police Force also is promising to invest $30 million in new projects for the city, including a military and law enforcement training center with a 250-bed dormitory and an expansion of the jail to 2,000 beds. The company says it will build a homeless shelter, offer free health care for city residents and even deliver meals to the needy.
Where the prisoners would come from is unclear. City officials said California was the most likely possibility, but a spokesman for that state's corrections system said there was no truth to the claim.
Federal prisoners also were mentioned by both American Police Force and the city. U.S. Marshal Dwight MacKay in Billings said he would have been notified if such a plan was pending.
"There's skepticism over whether this is a real thing," MacKay said.
Hardin officials said they were approached by American Police Force about six months ago, soon after the city made international news in its quest to become "America's Gitmo." American Police Force incorporated around the same time.
Albert Peterson, the city's school superintendent and vice president of the authority that built the jail, said the city was "guaranteed" the contract would be upheld.
"There's never a question in my mind after I've done my homework. It's legit," Peterson said of American Police Force. "We believe in each other."
The contract was still being reviewed by the city attorney, he said.
Peterson refused to answer when asked if he knew the name of American Police Force's parent firm. He said news coverage of the city's political tussles with the administration of Gov. Brian Schweitzer had left him suspicious of the press. The administration brought a court challenge over whether Hardin could take out-of-state inmates at the jail.
"If you're looking for the source of the money, you're not going to find it from me," Peterson said.
A member of the Texas consortium that developed the jail, Mike Harling, said he had "every reason to believe they'll be successful."
Mafi, the American Police Force attorney, said his company intends to reverse Hardin's recent problems with the jail and give the town an economic boost.
In Santa Ana, American Police Force occupies a single suite on the second floor of a two-story office building. During a visit to the location Thursday, a reporter for The Associated Press encountered a uniformed man behind a desk who would identify himself only as "Captain Michael."
The man declined to discuss basic details about the company and referred the reporter to the company's Web site. In a subsequent phone interview, he provided his surname but insisted it not be used because of security concerns. The man said he was a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Montenegro with decades of experience in military and law enforcement operations.
The man said his boss is a retired U.S. Army colonel named Richard Culver who is currently overseas. Culver's role with the company could not be immediately verified.
The company claim of a headquarters address is just up the street from the White House.
The K Street building houses "virtual offices," where clients pay to use the prestigious Pennsylvania Avenue address and gain access to onsite conference rooms but have no permanent presence.
"It lets small businesses get started up and have a professional front and not have a lot of a cash to do it," said Ashley Korner with Preferred Offices, which leases the location.
She said American Police Force's application to use the address was pending, but incomplete.
___
Associated Press Writer Amy Taxin contributed to this story from Santa Ana.
___
On the Net:
American Private Police Force: http://www.americanpolicegroup.com
Serbia to choose Kosovo over EU, FM.
Serbianna
3 October 2009
Serbia will decline to join the EU if it is told that it must recognize the unilaterally declared independence Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian separatists made, says Serbia’s Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic.
“If the present Serbian government faced a decision like that, it would have no choice but to give up on EU integration,” said Jeremic to the audience of students and faculty of Political Science.
Jeremic said that the issue of Kosovo’ status and Serbia’s EU membership are separate but warned that some in the EU want to merge the two and force Serbia to either recognize Kosovo as a state or let go of EU hopes.
“If we are not active, but also careful and cautious, we can end up getting ourselves in an impossible situation, to choose between Kosovo and Metohija and Europe,” Jeremic said.
The Minister said that Serbia’s EU integration are one of the main foreign policy objectives but so is preservation of Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
“If we get to the situation where we have to choose, then we have lost. But if we are in the losing situation, then we must choose Kosovo,” said Jeremic.
According to Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic, Serbia’s membership in the EU would boost Serbia’s economic growth by 1.3% annually.
Serbia’s EU integration initiative, the SAA, is presently on hold because of the DUtch objections to Serbia’s inability to find and arrest General Ratko Mladic who is wanted by the war crimes court.
Hungary’s ambassador to Serbia, Imre Varga urged the EU nations to quickly ratify the SAA.
Serbia also got assurance from Slovakia’s Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak that Slovakia does not recognize Kosovo and that nothing will change about its stand, because the government respects international legal principles.
In its latest session, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe did not discuss Kosovo’s status, reports the chief of Serbian delegation to the Council Dragoljub Micunovic.
“The question of status was not mentioned at all, because it is not within the competence of the Council of Europe, it is an issue for the International Court of Justice in the Hague,” Micunovic said.
He also pointed that a delegation of separatist ethnic Albanians met with Council of Europe’s Political Affairs Committee to debate institutional and legal issues in the province but the parliament was interested in the “catastrophic” human rights condition in Kosovo.
“They [separatists] talked about institutions, laws and what was adopted there, and the only topic we agreed to was the state of human rights in Kosovo,” Micunovic said.
Micunovic said that the issue of return of Serbs violently expelled by ethnic Albanians as well as justice and stability point to the lack of human rights in the province.
3 October 2009
Serbia will decline to join the EU if it is told that it must recognize the unilaterally declared independence Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian separatists made, says Serbia’s Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic.
“If the present Serbian government faced a decision like that, it would have no choice but to give up on EU integration,” said Jeremic to the audience of students and faculty of Political Science.
Jeremic said that the issue of Kosovo’ status and Serbia’s EU membership are separate but warned that some in the EU want to merge the two and force Serbia to either recognize Kosovo as a state or let go of EU hopes.
“If we are not active, but also careful and cautious, we can end up getting ourselves in an impossible situation, to choose between Kosovo and Metohija and Europe,” Jeremic said.
The Minister said that Serbia’s EU integration are one of the main foreign policy objectives but so is preservation of Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
“If we get to the situation where we have to choose, then we have lost. But if we are in the losing situation, then we must choose Kosovo,” said Jeremic.
According to Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic, Serbia’s membership in the EU would boost Serbia’s economic growth by 1.3% annually.
Serbia’s EU integration initiative, the SAA, is presently on hold because of the DUtch objections to Serbia’s inability to find and arrest General Ratko Mladic who is wanted by the war crimes court.
Hungary’s ambassador to Serbia, Imre Varga urged the EU nations to quickly ratify the SAA.
Serbia also got assurance from Slovakia’s Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak that Slovakia does not recognize Kosovo and that nothing will change about its stand, because the government respects international legal principles.
In its latest session, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe did not discuss Kosovo’s status, reports the chief of Serbian delegation to the Council Dragoljub Micunovic.
“The question of status was not mentioned at all, because it is not within the competence of the Council of Europe, it is an issue for the International Court of Justice in the Hague,” Micunovic said.
He also pointed that a delegation of separatist ethnic Albanians met with Council of Europe’s Political Affairs Committee to debate institutional and legal issues in the province but the parliament was interested in the “catastrophic” human rights condition in Kosovo.
“They [separatists] talked about institutions, laws and what was adopted there, and the only topic we agreed to was the state of human rights in Kosovo,” Micunovic said.
Micunovic said that the issue of return of Serbs violently expelled by ethnic Albanians as well as justice and stability point to the lack of human rights in the province.
01 October, 2009
CNOOC in Talks to Enter $5B Uganda Oil Project.
by Benoit Faucon and Nicholas Bariyo
Dow Jones Newswires
10/1/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=80920
China state-owned CNOOC Ltd. has become the latest company to enter talks with Uganda over a large Tullow Oil PLC-led project, people familiar with the matter said this week.
CNOOC company representatives approached the Ugandan presidency in early September and held talks with officials at the state house, said an official in Uganda President Yoweri Museveni's office.
The news follows confirmation by Nigerian government officials that CNOOC had sought to enter Nigerian oil blocks underused by major international oil companies. CNOOC's interest in Tullow's Ugandan project shows China is also interested in expanding on the continent through partnerships with emerging African oil producers.
CNOOC is one of several companies expected to hold future talks with U.K. independent Tullow over its Uganda project, another person said. Spokespeople for CNOOC, Tullow and the Ugandan Energy Ministry declined to comment on CNOOC's interest.
Tullow has made large discoveries in blocks located in Eastern Uganda's Lake Albert region and has said it wants to "farm down" -- or sell a stake to finance the project -- to other partners. In an e-mail Tuesday to Dow Jones Newswires, Tullow's Uganda country manager Brian Glover said the company has kicked off the farm down process, starting by engaging in talks with Uganda's government.
"We don't want to confirm a short-list at this stage since we are at a sensitive point in the process, and will be engaging with government before approaching suitable partners," Glover said.
Glover wouldn't comment on the details of the ongoing talks with government, but a government official familiar with the situation said the government had insisted on a number of conditions, including allowing only investors with a good oil production track record to partner with Tullow Oil.
Commercial production will require a 1,300 kilometer export pipeline to the Kenyan port of Mombasa, and the government would also like the operators to build a local refinery. The pipeline and refinery, plus a share of the oil block costs, could represent an investment of $5 billion to $6 billion, industry experts said.
Apart from CNOOC, China National Petroleum Corp. and China PetroChemical Corp., also known as Sinopec, have been preselected for talks to enter the project, industry sources said. It's unclear whether the Chinese concerns will team up or compete.
China is facing opposition in other African countries over some oil acquisitions and criticism over its decision to bring its own labor and technical problems in its projects. An Ugandan official said the government isn't necessarily against Chinese companies but would make a comprehensive assessment before approving any venture.
Chinese companies will also face stiff competition from oil majors.
CNOOC's trip came on the heels of a visit in August by Eni SpA's Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni. Having ruled out an outright acquisition of Tullow, Eni is interested in buying stakes in its Ugandan oil blocks and teaming up to build the proposed pipeline and refinery, people familiar with the matter previously said.
Tullow would like to obtain more information on its Uganda reserves potential -- including through further drilling -- before it sells a stake to a partner, the person familiar with CNOOC's interest said.
Tullow confirmed in early September it had made the largest oil discovery yet in Uganda, an area where it already has found more than 700 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Dow Jones Newswires
10/1/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=80920
China state-owned CNOOC Ltd. has become the latest company to enter talks with Uganda over a large Tullow Oil PLC-led project, people familiar with the matter said this week.
CNOOC company representatives approached the Ugandan presidency in early September and held talks with officials at the state house, said an official in Uganda President Yoweri Museveni's office.
The news follows confirmation by Nigerian government officials that CNOOC had sought to enter Nigerian oil blocks underused by major international oil companies. CNOOC's interest in Tullow's Ugandan project shows China is also interested in expanding on the continent through partnerships with emerging African oil producers.
CNOOC is one of several companies expected to hold future talks with U.K. independent Tullow over its Uganda project, another person said. Spokespeople for CNOOC, Tullow and the Ugandan Energy Ministry declined to comment on CNOOC's interest.
Tullow has made large discoveries in blocks located in Eastern Uganda's Lake Albert region and has said it wants to "farm down" -- or sell a stake to finance the project -- to other partners. In an e-mail Tuesday to Dow Jones Newswires, Tullow's Uganda country manager Brian Glover said the company has kicked off the farm down process, starting by engaging in talks with Uganda's government.
"We don't want to confirm a short-list at this stage since we are at a sensitive point in the process, and will be engaging with government before approaching suitable partners," Glover said.
Glover wouldn't comment on the details of the ongoing talks with government, but a government official familiar with the situation said the government had insisted on a number of conditions, including allowing only investors with a good oil production track record to partner with Tullow Oil.
Commercial production will require a 1,300 kilometer export pipeline to the Kenyan port of Mombasa, and the government would also like the operators to build a local refinery. The pipeline and refinery, plus a share of the oil block costs, could represent an investment of $5 billion to $6 billion, industry experts said.
Apart from CNOOC, China National Petroleum Corp. and China PetroChemical Corp., also known as Sinopec, have been preselected for talks to enter the project, industry sources said. It's unclear whether the Chinese concerns will team up or compete.
China is facing opposition in other African countries over some oil acquisitions and criticism over its decision to bring its own labor and technical problems in its projects. An Ugandan official said the government isn't necessarily against Chinese companies but would make a comprehensive assessment before approving any venture.
Chinese companies will also face stiff competition from oil majors.
CNOOC's trip came on the heels of a visit in August by Eni SpA's Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni. Having ruled out an outright acquisition of Tullow, Eni is interested in buying stakes in its Ugandan oil blocks and teaming up to build the proposed pipeline and refinery, people familiar with the matter previously said.
Tullow would like to obtain more information on its Uganda reserves potential -- including through further drilling -- before it sells a stake to a partner, the person familiar with CNOOC's interest said.
Tullow confirmed in early September it had made the largest oil discovery yet in Uganda, an area where it already has found more than 700 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Perenco Snaps Up Marathon Oil's Gabon Assets.
Perenco
10/1/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=80915
Perenco has strengthened its position in Gabon with the acquisition of Marathon Oil Corporation's wholly owned subsidiary, Marathon Oil Gabon Limited, which holds a 56.25 percent working interest in three offshore production fields; the effective date of the transaction is January 1, 2009 with completion anticipated during the 4th quarter of 2009.
Perenco's acquisition of Marathon's stakes in the Tchatamba Marin, Tchatamba South and Tchatamba West fields will add approximately 15,000 bopd gross production to Perenco's current 50,000 bopd operated production in Gabon. Perenco will now be the operator at these fields, from where production is processed on a single facility at Tchatamba Marin, with processed oil being transported through a pipeline to a non-operated onshore facility.
Located 15 miles offshore and approximately 100 miles southeast of Port Gentil, the Tchatamba Marin Field was discovered in 1995 and began production in early 1998. The Tchatamba South and West fields were discovered in 1997 and came on stream in 1999 and 2000, respectively.
Gabon has been a key area for Perenco for a number of years and the acquisition of Marathon Oil's stake in these important fields further consolidates our position in the country. We look forward to continuing to develop these fields with the current employees and to remaining a committed partner to Gabon.
10/1/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=80915
Perenco has strengthened its position in Gabon with the acquisition of Marathon Oil Corporation's wholly owned subsidiary, Marathon Oil Gabon Limited, which holds a 56.25 percent working interest in three offshore production fields; the effective date of the transaction is January 1, 2009 with completion anticipated during the 4th quarter of 2009.
Perenco's acquisition of Marathon's stakes in the Tchatamba Marin, Tchatamba South and Tchatamba West fields will add approximately 15,000 bopd gross production to Perenco's current 50,000 bopd operated production in Gabon. Perenco will now be the operator at these fields, from where production is processed on a single facility at Tchatamba Marin, with processed oil being transported through a pipeline to a non-operated onshore facility.
Located 15 miles offshore and approximately 100 miles southeast of Port Gentil, the Tchatamba Marin Field was discovered in 1995 and began production in early 1998. The Tchatamba South and West fields were discovered in 1997 and came on stream in 1999 and 2000, respectively.
Gabon has been a key area for Perenco for a number of years and the acquisition of Marathon Oil's stake in these important fields further consolidates our position in the country. We look forward to continuing to develop these fields with the current employees and to remaining a committed partner to Gabon.
'No credible evidence' of Iranian nuclear weapons, says UN inspector.
The Guardian
By Julian Borger and Richard Norton-Taylor
30 September 2009
The UN's chief weapons inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, said today he had seen "no credible evidence" that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, rejecting British intelligence allegations that a weapons programme has been going on for at least four years.
The claims and counter-claims came on the eve of a potentially decisive meeting in Geneva between diplomats from six world powers and an Iranian delegation about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Iran insists its programme is for peaceful purposes, and that there is nothing illegal about a uranium enrichment plant under construction near the city of Qom, the existence of which was revealed last week. Iranian leaders say they did not have to inform the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) until six months before the first uranium was processed.
But ElBaradei, the outgoing IAEA director general, publicly disagreed today, saying Iran had been under an obligation to tell the agency "on the day it was decided to construct the facility". He said the Iranian government was "on the wrong side of the law".
However, ElBaradei rejected British intelligence claims that Iran had reactivated its weapons programme at least four years ago. By making the claims the UK broke with the official US intelligence position that Iranian work on developing a warhead probably stopped in 2003. They said that even if there was a halt, as reported in a US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) two years ago, the programme restarted in late 2004 or early 2005.
British officials had been privately sceptical about the NIE finding since its publication in 2007, but this was the first time they had made detailed allegations about Iran's weapons programme.
BND, the German intelligence organisation, this year provided evidence in a court case saying it believed weapons work in Iran had continued after 2003. A leaked internal memo written by the IAEA also found that Iran probably had "sufficient information" to build a bomb, and that it had "probably tested" a high-explosive component of a nuclear warhead.
ElBaradei has angrily rejected claims from Israel, France and the US that he had suppressed the internal IAEA report, saying all relevant and confirmed information had been presented to member states.
Tomorrow's talks will take place in a secluded villa on the edge of Geneva. The Iranian delegation will be led by its chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, who at a similar meeting in Switzerland last year delivered a lecture more than two hours long about recent Iranian history and the global balance of power. But he refused to discuss Iran's nuclear programme.
Iranian officials say its programme remains non-negotiable, despite five UN security council resolutions calling for Iran to suspend enrichment. Western negotiators say they will push for a date for an IAEA inspection of the Qom uranium plant, and further concrete steps from the Iranian government to restore international confidence in the peaceful purpose of its programme. Failing that, multilateral talks will start on the imposition of more sanctions.
The Kremlin said today that the Russian position on sanctions would depend on the degree of Iranian cooperation with the IAEA. However, Russia and China are expected to resist the far-reaching measures aimed at Iran's energy sector being promoted by the US, Britain and France.
By Julian Borger and Richard Norton-Taylor
30 September 2009
The UN's chief weapons inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, said today he had seen "no credible evidence" that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, rejecting British intelligence allegations that a weapons programme has been going on for at least four years.
The claims and counter-claims came on the eve of a potentially decisive meeting in Geneva between diplomats from six world powers and an Iranian delegation about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Iran insists its programme is for peaceful purposes, and that there is nothing illegal about a uranium enrichment plant under construction near the city of Qom, the existence of which was revealed last week. Iranian leaders say they did not have to inform the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) until six months before the first uranium was processed.
But ElBaradei, the outgoing IAEA director general, publicly disagreed today, saying Iran had been under an obligation to tell the agency "on the day it was decided to construct the facility". He said the Iranian government was "on the wrong side of the law".
However, ElBaradei rejected British intelligence claims that Iran had reactivated its weapons programme at least four years ago. By making the claims the UK broke with the official US intelligence position that Iranian work on developing a warhead probably stopped in 2003. They said that even if there was a halt, as reported in a US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) two years ago, the programme restarted in late 2004 or early 2005.
British officials had been privately sceptical about the NIE finding since its publication in 2007, but this was the first time they had made detailed allegations about Iran's weapons programme.
BND, the German intelligence organisation, this year provided evidence in a court case saying it believed weapons work in Iran had continued after 2003. A leaked internal memo written by the IAEA also found that Iran probably had "sufficient information" to build a bomb, and that it had "probably tested" a high-explosive component of a nuclear warhead.
ElBaradei has angrily rejected claims from Israel, France and the US that he had suppressed the internal IAEA report, saying all relevant and confirmed information had been presented to member states.
Tomorrow's talks will take place in a secluded villa on the edge of Geneva. The Iranian delegation will be led by its chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, who at a similar meeting in Switzerland last year delivered a lecture more than two hours long about recent Iranian history and the global balance of power. But he refused to discuss Iran's nuclear programme.
Iranian officials say its programme remains non-negotiable, despite five UN security council resolutions calling for Iran to suspend enrichment. Western negotiators say they will push for a date for an IAEA inspection of the Qom uranium plant, and further concrete steps from the Iranian government to restore international confidence in the peaceful purpose of its programme. Failing that, multilateral talks will start on the imposition of more sanctions.
The Kremlin said today that the Russian position on sanctions would depend on the degree of Iranian cooperation with the IAEA. However, Russia and China are expected to resist the far-reaching measures aimed at Iran's energy sector being promoted by the US, Britain and France.
SFO seeks BAE prosecution over bribery.
The Guardian
David Leigh and Rob Evans
1 October 2009
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced this morning that it will seek to prosecute BAE over bribery allegations.
Britain's biggest arms firm is accused of corruptly paying out millions of pounds to win lucrative arms contracts from a number of countries, including Tanzania, the Czech Republic, Romania and South Africa.
The decision to prosecute was announced in a statement in which the SFO said it "intends to seek the attorney general's consent to prosecute BAE Systems for offences relating to overseas corruption and will prepare its papers to be submitted to the attorney when the SFO considers it is ready to proceed. This follows the investigation carried out by the SFO into business activities of BAE Systems in Africa and Eastern Europe."
The decision is being seen as a make or break move for the agency, which has spent the last six years, under two different directors, trying to resolve allegations against one of the world's most powerful arms companies.
The SFO must gain the formal consent of the attorney general, Lady Scotland, to press charges. This power is due to be abolished, but still exists.
The SFO's statement that, in effect, it is not yet ready to make a formal submission to the attorney leaves the door open for BAE to return to the negotiating table.
Pointedly, no further timetable was attached to the SFO statement, thus extending any deadline indefinitely and making the agency appear to back off from its bullish talk of "ultimatums".
In a statement, BAE insisted it had acted "responsibly" when dealing with the SFO.
"The company notes the announcement by the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and continues to expend considerable effort seeking to resolve, at the earliest opportunity, the historical matters under investigation by the SFO.
"BAE Systems has at all times acted responsibly in its dealings with the SFO, taking into account the interests of its shareholders and employees and the legal advice it has received."
It said that if a prosecution was launched, the company would "deal with any issues raised in those proceedings at the appropriate time and, if necessary, in court".
BAE was the biggest faller on the London stockmarket this morning, down nearly 5%, or 17p, to 332.2p.
The US justice department has been running a parallel investigation into BAE, which has a major US presence as an arms supplier to the Pentagon.
The Washington investigation has so far been without results, and this is the first occasion worldwide when BAE as a company has directly faced the prospect of prosecution.
In 2006 the SFO was forced to drop investigations into BAE's biggest arms deals in Saudi Arabia. Tony Blair, the then prime minister, in effect granted immunity to the Saudi ruling family.
This summers's secret negotiations with the UK arms giant on other outstanding cases broke down when it failed to meet last night's SFO deadline to make a deal or face the courts.
Behind the scenes, there has been a high-stakes poker game between BAE and the agency entrusted with eradicating foreign bribery, to see if a US-style plea bargain could be quietly negotiated.
Richard Alderman, the agency's director, was widely reported to be in a determined mood, but today's announcement in effect signals the failure so far of the SFO's preferred strategy of reaching an agreed settlement.
A prosecution against the finest lawyers BAE's money can buy, with its legal uncertainties, delays and expense is almost as unwelcome a prospect for the SFO as it is for BAE itself. But Alderman's personal credibility and that of the SFO are now on the line.
For the SFO, a key element of an acceptable settlement package is the payment of large financial penalties, possibly of more than £500m in the case of a company the size of BAE, according to sources close to the talks.
David Leigh and Rob Evans
1 October 2009
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced this morning that it will seek to prosecute BAE over bribery allegations.
Britain's biggest arms firm is accused of corruptly paying out millions of pounds to win lucrative arms contracts from a number of countries, including Tanzania, the Czech Republic, Romania and South Africa.
The decision to prosecute was announced in a statement in which the SFO said it "intends to seek the attorney general's consent to prosecute BAE Systems for offences relating to overseas corruption and will prepare its papers to be submitted to the attorney when the SFO considers it is ready to proceed. This follows the investigation carried out by the SFO into business activities of BAE Systems in Africa and Eastern Europe."
The decision is being seen as a make or break move for the agency, which has spent the last six years, under two different directors, trying to resolve allegations against one of the world's most powerful arms companies.
The SFO must gain the formal consent of the attorney general, Lady Scotland, to press charges. This power is due to be abolished, but still exists.
The SFO's statement that, in effect, it is not yet ready to make a formal submission to the attorney leaves the door open for BAE to return to the negotiating table.
Pointedly, no further timetable was attached to the SFO statement, thus extending any deadline indefinitely and making the agency appear to back off from its bullish talk of "ultimatums".
In a statement, BAE insisted it had acted "responsibly" when dealing with the SFO.
"The company notes the announcement by the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and continues to expend considerable effort seeking to resolve, at the earliest opportunity, the historical matters under investigation by the SFO.
"BAE Systems has at all times acted responsibly in its dealings with the SFO, taking into account the interests of its shareholders and employees and the legal advice it has received."
It said that if a prosecution was launched, the company would "deal with any issues raised in those proceedings at the appropriate time and, if necessary, in court".
BAE was the biggest faller on the London stockmarket this morning, down nearly 5%, or 17p, to 332.2p.
The US justice department has been running a parallel investigation into BAE, which has a major US presence as an arms supplier to the Pentagon.
The Washington investigation has so far been without results, and this is the first occasion worldwide when BAE as a company has directly faced the prospect of prosecution.
In 2006 the SFO was forced to drop investigations into BAE's biggest arms deals in Saudi Arabia. Tony Blair, the then prime minister, in effect granted immunity to the Saudi ruling family.
This summers's secret negotiations with the UK arms giant on other outstanding cases broke down when it failed to meet last night's SFO deadline to make a deal or face the courts.
Behind the scenes, there has been a high-stakes poker game between BAE and the agency entrusted with eradicating foreign bribery, to see if a US-style plea bargain could be quietly negotiated.
Richard Alderman, the agency's director, was widely reported to be in a determined mood, but today's announcement in effect signals the failure so far of the SFO's preferred strategy of reaching an agreed settlement.
A prosecution against the finest lawyers BAE's money can buy, with its legal uncertainties, delays and expense is almost as unwelcome a prospect for the SFO as it is for BAE itself. But Alderman's personal credibility and that of the SFO are now on the line.
For the SFO, a key element of an acceptable settlement package is the payment of large financial penalties, possibly of more than £500m in the case of a company the size of BAE, according to sources close to the talks.
US military carries out joint exercises in Africa.
AP News
Sep 30, 2009 11:42 EST
The U.S. military has begun an exercise in the African nation of Gabon with personnel from 25 African countries to improve command and control between forces for possible peacekeeping or anti-terrorism missions, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Some 200 personnel are participating in the Africa Endeavor exercise that tests abilities of African militaries to communicate with each other, Vince Crawley, a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command, told The Associated Press.
Africom, as the command is known, is sponsoring the exercise and much of the instruction is done by U.S. military personnel based in Europe and the United States, said Eric S. Elliott, another U.S. military spokesman.
"The overall objective is to achieve a level of communications interoperability and compatibility that will allow partner nations to successfully conduct future multinational operations," Elliott said.
Guinea was not participating, the spokesmen said.
Africom, which is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, was formally activated last October. Before then, U.S. military programs in Africa were split among three other commands.
Sep 30, 2009 11:42 EST
The U.S. military has begun an exercise in the African nation of Gabon with personnel from 25 African countries to improve command and control between forces for possible peacekeeping or anti-terrorism missions, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Some 200 personnel are participating in the Africa Endeavor exercise that tests abilities of African militaries to communicate with each other, Vince Crawley, a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command, told The Associated Press.
Africom, as the command is known, is sponsoring the exercise and much of the instruction is done by U.S. military personnel based in Europe and the United States, said Eric S. Elliott, another U.S. military spokesman.
"The overall objective is to achieve a level of communications interoperability and compatibility that will allow partner nations to successfully conduct future multinational operations," Elliott said.
Guinea was not participating, the spokesmen said.
Africom, which is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, was formally activated last October. Before then, U.S. military programs in Africa were split among three other commands.
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