- Angolagate
Angolagate, also known as the Mitterrand-Pasqua affair, is an international political scandal over the secret sale and shipment of arms from
Eastern Europe to the government ofAngola by theGovernment of France in the 1990s. The scandal has also been tied to the U.S. government and businessmen around the world.Bicesse Accords
President
José Eduardo dos Santos ofAngola met withJonas Savimbi ofUNITA inLisbon, Portugal and signed the Bicesse Accords, a peace agreement that attempted unsuccessfully to end the civil war, onMay 31 ,1991 with the mediation of the Portuguese government. The accords laid out a transition to multi-partydemocracy under the supervision of theUnited Nations 'UNAVEM II mission with a presidential election in a year.The accords attempted to demobilize the 152,000 active fighters and integrate the remaining government troops and UNITA rebels into a 50,000-strong
Angolan Armed Forces (FAA). The FAA would consist of a national army with 40,000 troops, navy with 6,000, and air force with 4,000.Wright, George. "The Destruction of a Nation: United States' Policy Towards Angola Since 1945", 1997. Page 159.] While UNITA largely did not disarm, the FAA complied with the accord and demobilized, leaving the government disadvantaged." [http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/85/en/all_the_presidents_men All the President's Men] ", March 2002. Global Witness Page 11.]Angola held a presidential election in 1992. In the first round dos Santos officially received 49.57% of the vote and Savimbi won 40.6%. Savimbi said the election had neither been free nor fair and refused to participate in the second round. UNITA renewed its guerrilla war,Rothchild, Donald S. "Managing Ethnic Conflict in Africa: Pressures and Incentives for Cooperation", 1997. Page 134.] capturing five of Angola's eighteen provincial capitals."All the President's Men", March 2002. Pages 11-12.]
Arms sales
With the MPLA on the verge of defeat, dos Santos contacted
Jean-Bernard Curial , the formerFrench Socialist Party Southern Africa expert, and asked him to come toLuanda . Curial, supportive of dos Santos, contactedJean-Christophe Mitterrand , son of then-PresidentFrançois Mitterrand . Jean-Christophe referred Curial toPierre Falcone , head ofBrenco International , a consortium of companies based inParis , and adviser toSofremi , aparastatal run by the right-wingInterior Minister Charles Pasqua . Pasqua believed that in the early 1990s the U.S. government's support for UNITA had diminished while tacit support for the MPLA increased because peace would increase oil output. He argued that ifForeign policy of Francois Mitterrand towards Angola did not change in kind, French oil companies would miss out on a vital opportunity.Jean-Christophe's lawyer says that J.-Ch. Mitterrand first met Falcone after he stopped working as an expert on Africa for the Élysée. However, a former employee of Falcone told "
Le Monde " that Falcone and Jean-Christophe Mitterrand first met prior to July 1992 at 56 Avenue Montaigne inParis while J.-Ch. Mitterrand still worked for the French government. Sources for "Le Monde " say an employee ofThomson CSF , a French arms and electronics company, introduced J.-Ch. Mitterrand to Falcone.One week after Curial met Falcone, Falcone agreed to supply the Angolan government with the weapons it needed. The Angolan government bought
USD $47 million worth of ammunition, mortar, and artillery from Falcone onNovember 7 ,1993 which dos Santos received in December. In April 1994 the government bought $463 million worth offighter aircraft andtank s. By late 1994 the Angolan government had purchased $633 million worth of weapons.Dos Santos secretly had
Elísio de Figueiredo , the former ambassador of Angola to France, act as Angola'senvoy to friendly contacts in France. Falcone worked with the Angolan government through Figueiredo, who allegedly received $18 million from Brenco International for his cooperation.candal uncovered
Jean-Charles Marchiani, Pasqua's subordinate, allegedly went to
Luanda and signed an agreement with dos Santos onNovember 29 ,1994 that promised weapons and monetary assistance in exchange for future business deals with French companies. At that time,Jacques Chirac planned to run for president in the 1995 election. When Pasqua endorsedEdouard Balladur , Chirac's rival, Chirac's supporters told French Inland Revenue about Falcone's arms shipments, allegingincome tax evasion . While there is agreement that no arms ever passed through France, French Inland Revenue investigated individuals connected with the scandal because agreements were allegedly signed in Paris. Allain Guilloux, Brenco International's lawyer in France, says the Angolan government agreed to Marchiani's deal in Luanda, not Paris."All the President's Men", March 2002. Page 13.]In 1996 the French Financial Brigades confiscated 50,000 documents from the offices of Falcone and
Arcadi Gaydamak , aRussia n-Israel i businessman and associate of Falcone.French police arrested Falcone on
December 1 ,2000 on charges oftax fraud . Seven days later the French government issued a warrant for the arrest of Gaydamak. French police arrested Jean-Christophe Mitterrand onDecember 21 for his role in the arms-deal, but released him onJanuary 11 when his mother paid his $725,000 bail. [http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/angola/index-04.htm#TopOfPage The Oil Diagnostic in Angola: An Update, Human Rights Watch, March 2001] Human Rights Watch.] Hodges, Tony. "Angola", 2001. Page 165.] A judge found Mitterrand guilty in 2004 of tax fraud and gave him a suspended sentence of 30-months in prison. [http://www.ttc.org/200709241950.l8ojomv18354.htm Angola-French relations on the mend: Sarkozy] The Tocqueville Connection.]In April 2007 the
investigative magistrate Jean-Philippe Courroye indicted 42 people, including J.-Ch. Mitterrand,Jacques Attali , Charles Pasqua andJean-Charles Marchiani , for having received illegal payments fromPierre Falcone . [http://www.lefigaro.fr/france/20070406.WWW000000358__angolagate_mitterrand_et_pasqua_seront_juges.html "Angolagate" : Mitterrand et Pasqua seront jugés] , "Le Figaro ", 6 April 2007 fr icon]Arcadi Gaydamak and Falcone were also indicted, but their judgment will take place "in absentia " as they both left France. The writerPaul-Louis Sulitzer has also been indicted, charged of having received 380.000 euros from Falcone, as well as the UMP deputyGeorges Fenech , charged of having received 15.200 euros in 1997 from Brenco. [http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20070328.WWW000000417_angolagate_les_principaux_acteurs_de_l_affaire.html "Angolagate": les principaux acteurs de l'affaire] , "Le Figaro ", 28 March 2007 fr icon]References
ee also
*
French political scandals
*ZTS-OSOS
*Marc Rich
*Iskandar Safa
*Boris Yeltsin
*BNP Paribas
* [http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=1576 Israeli Police Work Cast Under Discredit] AIA
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