DESO (le bras pratique du MoD au service de BAE) : on ferme boutique

Il y a des signes qui ne trompent pas, selon la formule consacrée. L’intention, rapportée aujourd’hui par l’inévitable Guardian (spécialiste des révélations autour du BAE), du département du Trésor britannique de dissoudre l’agence d’exportation des armements, dite DESO (Defence Export Services [Sales] Organization), est un de ces signes.

Comme on le voit par ailleurs, DESO a surtout servi de courroie de transmission du MoD au service de BAE et de ses diverses entreprises, et éventuellement d’entreprise de subvention du même groupe BAE. Les diverses informations parues récemment sur l’affaire BAE convergent pour confirmer que DESO aurait notamment servi à subventionner Prince Bandar en toute sécurité, en même temps qu’il administrait les innombrables arcanes des contrats Yamamah. Par les temps qui courent, cette activité au service de BAE ne fait plus du tout l’unanimité et elle tend même à devenir très gênante. D’où la mesure envisagée, qui confirme que l’incendie BAE continue à gronder.

«The Treasury is planning to disband the government's controversial arms sales department, the Guardian can disclose. The 450-strong defence export services organisation (Deso), based near Oxford Street in London, has long been the target of anti-corruption campaigners and opponents of the arms trade.

»The former Treasury cabinet minister Stephen Timms launched proposals earlier this year to close down the secretive unit on the grounds that it subsidises profitable weapons giants such as BAE, Britain's biggest arms firm. According to Westminster sources, the Treasury's industrial productivity section argued that the taxpayer should not continue to subsidise an “anachronistic” department which had gained too much influence within Whitehall.

»Leaked documents seen by the Guardian show that the review was ordered in March by Mr Timms before he left the department. He was replaced last month as chief secretary to the Treasury by Andy Burnham, in Gordon Brown's new prime ministerial appointments. Des Browne, the defence secretary, was told by Mr Timms before his departure that “he was not convinced of Deso's justification”.

»Deso, set up in 1966 when the arms industry was largely state-owned and was mainly concerned with selling off surplus equipment, spends £15m a year directly on helping British arms firms to sell equipment abroad. It also lobbies within Whitehall for export licences for sales to sometimes controversial regimes. Opponents say no other British industry is supported by such a large government-funded machine and that Deso, which is always headed by an arms company executive, relentlessly promotes the industry's interests within the government.

»News of the Treasury initiative comes at an awkward time for Deso, which is accused of approving £1bn payments to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia from BAE. Deso runs the Al Yamamah arms deal for Saudi Arabia in return for a 2% commission. The Saudi transactions are now being investigated by the US justice department after Tony Blair ordered a British police inquiry to be closed down on alleged grounds of “national security”.»

Mis en ligne le 9 juillet 2007 à 19H08