----- Original Message ----- From: F J BERNAL <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; john_peter maher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2000 8:49 PM Subject: [STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Sierra Leone - Diamonds - Mercenaries STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Jamahiri Rights and Freedoms - http://www.mathaba.net/ For your perusal 1] -Mr. Robber Crook, Britain's Foreign Secretary, after his visit to Freetown earlier June told parliament that the government's main objective in Sierra Leone was to take the diamond-producing area out of the hands of the rebel (RUF). He proposed that international sanctions should be applied to RUF diamonds. He added that "the people of Sierra Leone remain among the world's poorest while the wealth of its diamond goes to rebels". Le Monde Diplomatique exposes Cook's pretence that Britain's efforts are designed to benefit the people of Sierra Leone. It points out that four international companies involved in diamond and mineral extraction made deals with Sierra Leone's President Ahmed Tejan KABBAH last year, after the US-brokered peace settlement was struck between the RUF and the government. "One square metre after another, the whole of 'usable' Sierra Leone has been mortgaged off in the form of concessions for extracting diamonds, rutile (titanium dioxide), bauxite and gold," the article explains. The companies involved are: DIAMONDWORKS (based in Canada), but its subsidiary companies BRANCHENERGY and BRANCHMINING which operate in Sierra Leone are located in the Isle of Man tax haven); REX MINING (Belgian); GLOBAL EXPLORATION CORPORATION (owned by the businessman RAKESH SAXENA of Thailand, who is being prosecuted for financial offenses); and SIERRA RUTILE, which is allied with Nord Resources (US- based). We recall in May 1968, British Crime Minister Fony Bliar's government was shown to have broken UN sanctions and collaborated with Sandline International, a firm of mercenaries which was assisting President Kabbah. The chairman of Sandline is a major shareholder of DIAMONDWORKS. No body can tell Sierra Leoneans what they went through with the mercenaries activities in the country. Mr. Robber Crook, now at the United Nations summit in New York, said that British forces would never cooperate with mercenaries and their presence in Sierra Leone was "a menace". Today it has been revealed that a British officer is advising gunship mercenaries hired by the Sierra Leone government. These mercenaries have been accused by human rights campaigners of indiscriminate attacks that have killed many civilians. They were filmed apparently firing randomly with rockets and machine-guns at a village supposed to be a rebel from RUF area. Sierra Leoneans stand up now and save the country from being entirely mortgaged. This is your land. The British will never welcome you in Britain as a British national. They are using your wealth, killing your families, relatives and friends bombing your villages and houses for their invested interests and to protecting the financial investment of their business communities and of course this, with the support of a stooge like Kabbah. As mr. Scott said: "Arresting leaders and their entire political party and holding all in solitary confinement without charges; forcing changes in leadership and all the rest will not bring peace." The mercenaries returned in Sierra Leone. If you don't open your eyes rather than concentrating on personal attacks you will be the only one paying the price particularly Sierra Leoneans at home. 2]- A Beoku-Betts Commission of Inquiry in 1968 found President Kabbah guilty of embezzling government fund, which is a felony, when he was a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry. His sentence was that he should never be appointed into a position of authority. What are you doing with this? Sierra Leoneans please wake up. The heart of the matter is corruption. This is what brought the war. How can you jeopardize your life for a group of criminals? Peace will never prevail as long as these criminals thieves are in power. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: N/A iQA/AwUBOcUgV0Y4L8gv88U8EQKqvQCg9E3GFl7+EYPhLgZHSjOu7l1618oAoLh/ BJRuniW/9KBUaKGGqr63EXPG =rUjC -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb
