Christian Peace Campaigner Calls for Inquest into Pinochet Arms Payments

A leading Christian peace campaigner has called for an inquest into alleged big money payments to the former Chilean dictator, General Augusto Pinochet, by arms giant BAe Systems, reports Ekklesia.
|PIC1|
Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR) in the UK, Chris Cole, called for a “thorough public investigation” into the arms giant, following claims in The Guardian that BAe has been identified in US banking records as secretly making payments to General Pinochet totalling more than £1million.

Mr Cole told Ekklesia yesterday that “the latest evidence of recent large scale payments to a mass murderer like General Pinochet should be another nail in the UK arm trade’s coffin”.

He added: “Despite constant reassurances that they are squeaky clean, these revelations show that BAe is still prepared to do underhand deals with anyone.”

Mr Cole said it was “high time that a thorough and public investigation was made into all of BAe’s international arms trading – and it needs to be much wider than the current Serious Fraud Office (SFO) inquiry, which is very narrow in scope”.

BAe is currently under investigation by the SFO on suspicion of money laundering and false accounting after allegations were made about a £60million Saudi ‘slush fund’.
|TOP|
Cole’s call echoes that of opposition MPS who last night called for an official parliamentary investigation into the alleged payments.

Michael Moore, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, said that allegations by The Guardian raised “exceptionally serious questions” about links between BAe and Chile.

“BAe have issued robost assertions that they operate to the highest standards of integrity and within all applicable regulations. Parliament, however, must review these allegations.”

The news throws into doubt a deal last week between BAe and the Chilean navy to overhaul three former Type 23 Royal Navy frigates, worth £134million.

A spokesman for BAe declined comment on the specific allegations regarding payments to General Pinochet but insisted that BAe was “committed to the highest standards”, reported The Telegraph.

"All BAe Systems' employees are required to act with honesty, integrity and fairness. We will not tolerate bribery or other attempts to improperly influence the decisions of customers or suppliers. We have clear and rigorous policies which govern the conduct of our relationships with third parties. We require all employees to adhere to these policies and comply with the law."