Tribune South Asia
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Year 1 Issue 11 Thursday, 29.09.11
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UK signs Dewani extradition order to South Africa
‘The Karachigate’
The story behind the killing of 11 French engineers Did MQM kill 11 French Naval Engineers? IN May 2002, 11 French naval engineers were killed in a bomb blast in Karachi. Investigations by French journalists point toward the blast being directly linked to a contract signed in 1994 between the DCN, the French defence contractor, and the Benazir Bhutto government, for the sale of three Agosta B submarines to Pakistan. $40 Million Kickbacks Distributed Amongst Pakistani Intermediaries for the Agosta Submarine Deal. French laws didn’t prohibit such kickbacks until 2000. What was illegal then, however, was the use of so-called retro-commissions, which involved skimming money off outgoing kickbacks for payment back to French officials. Paris signed a $1 billion deal to sell and assemble Agosta submarines to Pakistan; a year later, the cabinet of newly elected President Jacques Chirac decided to start holding back payment of some $33 million in kickbacks
that had been promised to Pakistani officials who had helped secure the contract. French security officials said that last year French investigators obtained documents and testimonies by people involved with the transaction showing that after those funds were retained, Pakistani officials who were designated in the contract to receive “commissions” for their help repeatedly insisted they be paid. In what could prove to be a major embarrassment to Nicolas Sarkozy, police in Paris on last Wednesday detained for questioning two senior officials known to have close ties to the French President. Tough the Sarkozy administration released a statement saying that the president “knew nothing” about it, he could still be called upon to testify. The arrests have been made in connection with the investigation into the 2002 Karachi bombing case in which 11 French engineers Continued on page 3 >>
The aristocratic wife of a former aide to President Nicolas Sarkozy has publicly accused her estranged husband of making frequent trips abroad in the 1990s to collect “bags of cash” for illegal political funds. Princess Hélène, the great-grand-daughter of the last king of Italy, has become one of the key figures in the so-called “Karachi affair” since her husband, Thierry Gaubert, and Nicolas Bazire, another close associate of Mr Sarkozy, were arrested last week and formally accused of handling kick-backs on multibillion-dollar arms contracts.
The UK secretary of state has signed an extradition order for Shrien Dewani to be tried in South Africa for the murder of his wife Anni, the National Prosecuting Authority said on Wednesday. “Dewani will have 14 days to give notice of appeal, if he decides to do so,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said. The British Home Office would send a copy of the extradition order to the High Commission for transmission to South Africa. A London judge ruled on August 10 that Dewani could be extradited to South Africa. He is accused of arranging the murder of his wife when they were on honeymoon in Cape Town last November. He claimed they had been hijacked. On his return to the UK, he was admitted to a facility for treatment for post traumatic stress. His defence had said he was too ill to travel. Xolile Wellington Mngeni, Mziwamadoda Lennox Qwabe, shuttle operator Zola Robert Tongo and Monde Mbolombo were arrested during investigations. Tongo was already serving a jail sentence imposed on him by the Cape High Court in plea bargain proceedings. Mbolombo turned State’s witness and would testify in the trial of Mngeni and Qwabe.