Angolagate 'arms for oil' Trial Opens in Paris

According to the Telegraph...

After a seven-year investigation, defendants finally appeared in court, accused of benefiting from a covert operation to bypass a French arms sales ban with Angola, then in the throes of a civil war estimated to have killed half a million people.

The 468-page indictment reads like an Ian Fleming plot: allegations of secret arms deals to fuel a bloody conflict in an oil-rich African nation; suitcases full of cash allegedly exchanging hands in a Paris mansion; a cast of characters ranging from a French presidential hopeful to a Chinese opera singer.

Between 1993 to 1998, some $791 million (£450 million) worth of arms and materiel were illegally dispatched to forces loyal to President Edouardo dos Santos in exchange for oil to multinational companies, prosecutors claim.

In 1993, the Marxist president was desperate for fresh ammunition after losing ground to US-backed Unita rebels. His shopping list included 44,000 Kalashnikovs, 420 tanks, 150,000 shells, 170,000 land mines, 12 helicopters and six warships.

As France refused to hand over the tanks and weapons, prosecutors alleged Mr Dos Santos looked for other ways to acquire them.

It is claimed that he was helped by Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, 61, an adviser on African affairs at the Elysée palace from 1986 to 1992. Nicknamed "papa m'a dit" (daddy told me) by African leaders, he faces five years if convicted of "complicity in illegal trade and embezzlement" and taking bribes worth $2.6 million.

Mr Mitterrand allegedly put the Angolan president in touch with two businessmen: the Russian-born Israeli billionaire Arkady Gaydamak, 56, and Frenchman Pierre Falcone, 54. Prosecutors claim the pair pocketed millions before distributing wads of cash to French and Angolan officials in exchange for political and commercial favours.

Both face 10 years if convicted of illegal weapons sales, influence trafficking, tax evasion, corrupt practices and misuse of company funds.

Mr Gaydamak, who denies any wrongdoing, is the father of Alexandre Gaydamak, 32, who owns Portsmouth FC.

The club recently denied reports in Israel that the club in fact belonged to Arkady Gaydmak, who also owns the Israeli side Beitar Jerusalem. Premier League rules state that those in charge of clubs must pass a "fit and proper persons" test and submit an annual declaration to that effect.

The Gaydamaks have always vehemently denied that any of Arkady's money was invested in acquiring the side.

Mr Gaydamak senior will be tried in absentia, as Israel refuses to extradite him.

Among the defendants in court was the former French interior minister, Charles Pasqua, 81, who faces 10 years if convicted of influence-peddling in favour of the Angolan authorities.

Mr Pasqua, who has pleaded innocent, maintains he is the victim of a political smear campaign allegedly instigated by the former president Jacques Chirac to torpedo his presidential bid in 2002.

"It is striking that if I had been a candidate, Chirac would have had no chance of being elected," claimed Mr Pasqua.

François Mitterrand's one-time advisor Jacques Attali faces five years if convicted of selling Angola access to his political and media contacts. Other defendants are accused primarily of "receiving misused funds".

Defence lawyers will argue that France is not qualified to try the case since the arms did not transit via France – an argument supported by the defence minister Hervé Morin.

President Nicolas Sarkozy is keen to turn the page on a case that has long soured relations with Africa's top oil producer. He recently called for the two countries to begin a "new era" of co-operation.

Although no Angolans are on trial, prosecutors allege that 30 officials also received tens of millions of pounds in kickbacks.

Angola sought to have the whole trial scrapped "to protect the rights attached to its sovereignty". Its government considers many documents used by the prosecution to be defence secrets.

The trial continues.