Angola: Swiss lawsuit dropped,
funds to return under conditions

"The good news for President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos was that on December 21 the Swiss prosecutor general in Geneva, Daniel Zapelli, ordered an end to the inquiry into Angolan funds deposited in Swiss banks.

This decision also ends lawsuits lodged two years ago against French businessman Pierre Falcone, which led to the freezing of accounts holding millions of Swiss Francs (the rest vanished into tax havens). Now the Angolan funds will be returned to the Luanda authorities.

However, a condition was attached - the Swiss government said that the money should be "spent honestly" and its use should be supervised by Switzerland's Directory for Development Cooperation. The funds can be spent only within the framework of a humanitarian project.

The funds could be allocated to de-mining operations - an irony since all de-mining contracts are in the hands of Falcone, who was one of Angola's main arms supplier."

(c) SouthScan v20/01 14 Jan 05, copied as "fair use"
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Donor commitment to oil revenue transparency
and economic governance reforms in Angola

"We are writing to you regarding current discussions on increasing World Bank financial assistance to Angola, and negotiations for an International Monetary Fund Staff Monitored Programme (SMP).

Global Witness and other partner members of the international Publish What You Pay campaign are becoming increasingly concerned by the slow pace of economic governance reform in Angola, including recent reports about the postponement of an IMF mission planned for January 2005. The reason given for the postponement was the Angolan government’s failure to provide the IMF with information on the oil sector, specifically the windfall from high oil prices."

Letter by Global Witness, 14 February 2005
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Betrifft: Einstellung der Untersuchung wegen Korruption
gegen Pierre Falcone (P/171/02)

"Sehr geehrter Herr Zappelli,

Wir schreiben Ihnen bezüglich Ihres Entscheids, die Untersuchung gegen Pierre Falcone wegen Geldwäscherei, Unterstützung einer kriminellen Vereinigung sowie Bestechung fremder Amtsträger einzustellen; eine Untersuchung, die in Zusammenhang mit der Rolle als Zwischenhändler steht, die Pierre Falcone und sein Partner Arkadi Gayadamak sowie deren Firma Abalone Investment Ltd zwischen 1996 und 2000 bei der Umschuldung von Angolas Schulden gegenüber Russland spielte.

Wir sind der Ansicht, dass der Einstellungsentscheid dem öffentlichen Interesse widerspricht, die Schweizer Gesetze missachtet und die internationale Pflicht der Schweiz untergräbt, Korruption und Geldwäscherei zu bekämpfen."

Brief an den Staatsanwalt in Genf, in deutscher und englischer Sprache, vom Afrika-Komitee mitunterzeichnet, 23. Februar 2005
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