Al Yamamah: sign the petition
The Liberal Democrats are calling for “a major parliamentary
inquiry” into a £40 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia. The Serious Fraud
Office (SFO) investigation into the Al Yamamah deal and possible bribery was
controversially dropped last year after the Prime Minister warned that the
fall-out from the deal could lead to the Saudis ending security
co-operation.
The calls for a fresh inquiry are being made by Liberal Democrat Leader
Menzies Campbell after reports from the BBC and the Guardian alleged that more
than £1 billion was secretly channelled into accounts controlled by the former
Saudi Ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, over the period of at
least a decade. Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, Vince Cable MP, called these
revelations “the most shocking aspect of this scandal to date.”
The
Guardian alleges that the payments were made by BAE Systems – the UK’s biggest
arms manufacturer – with the full knowledge of the Ministry of Defence. Dr.
Cable said that “if it is indeed true that the British Government has been
complicit in enormous under the counter payments to Prince Bandar there must be
a full investigation by Parliament, and the Public Accounts Committee must be
reconvened to pursue the Al Yamamah investigation.”
The Al Yamamah deal
to supply the Saudis with more than 100 Tornado and Hawk warplanes was
originally agreed by Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1985. A report by the
National Audit Office into allegations that huge bribes were paid to secure the
deal was suppressed in 1992. The Liberal Democrats are again calling for the
immediate publication of this crucial report.
You can back
the Liberal Democrat campaign for an independent inquiry into the axing of the
Al Yamamah corruption investigation by signing the petition at www.corruptionisacrime.com
