L’OCDE ne lâchera pas BAE

De nouveaux détails ont été publiés sur la campagne de désinformation et de diffamation conduite par le gouvernement britannique contre les enquêteurs de l’OCDE sur l’abandon de l’enquête par le SFO britannique (scandale BAE-Yamamah) en décembre dernier. C’est l’Independent qui revient aujourd’hui sur cette affaire, en précisant surtout l’intention affichée de l’OCDE de poursuivre et d’accentuer ses investigations à la lumière des dernières révélations sur le cas.

Parmi les innombrables bâtons merdeux que laisse Tony Blair derrière lui, le scandale BAE-Yamamah est l’un des plus souillés. Gordon Brown devra manœuvrer avec attention, lui qui est très sensible à la réputation du Royaume-Uni dans les instances internationales.

«Last year, Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, ordered the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to drop an inquiry into the al-Yamamah contract and allegations of the payment of sweeteners by BAE Systems to the Saudis. Lord Goldsmith last week denied that he ordered details of the payments not to be disclosed to the OECD.

»Sources at the OECD say they believe full details of the payments were withheld, and a campaign to undermine them and pressure them to drop their inquiry was set in train by Britain. One OECD employee, who declined to be named, found that details of his old CV, part of which contained exaggerations about his qualifications, were being aired in the media.

»The OECD anti-bribery panel is expected to renew its inquiry into the decision of the Government to stop the Serious Fraud Office inquiry into allegations of bribes paid by BAE.

»The Foreign Office last night denied that Britain was behind an orchestrated smear campaign and asked for documentary evidence. A spokesman said: “There is no pressure that I can see, of course not. I am not going to comment on these allegations.”

»The OECD is determined not to drop its probe. A number of its anti-bribery inspectors will travel to London shortly, where they are expected to ask to speak to ministers, including the Attorney General, about why the SFO probe was dropped.»

Mis en ligne le 10 juin 2007 à 06H33