ANGOLA: Allegations of embezzlement of 'petrodollars'

Photo: IRIN

Resources have fuelled armed conflict

JOHANNESBURG, 26 March 2002 (IRIN) - International law enforcement agencies have been handed a dossier alleging that millions of dollars of Angola's petroleum revenue have been embezzled. Lobby group Global Witness told IRIN on Tuesday that it had forwarded information regarding the alleged embezzlement to law enforcement agencies in the United States and Europe. Global Witness' Gavin Hayman said: "We need governments to recognise the importance of investigating [the allegations]." He stressed that the group had not given over information that could compromise their sources. Global Witness called for greater transparency from the Angolan government regarding the revenue it generates from oil. At the same time a symposium in New York highlighted the need for a better understanding of economically driven conflicts. Current president of the UN Security Council, Norway, is using its term to draw attention to the impact of economic agendas on armed conflicts. UN Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frèchette also addressed the symposium, together with other representatives from the UN. Meanwhile the Angolan government and the rebel UNITA movement continue to negotiate a peace deal that would end the 27-year civil war. The peace talks in Luena, southeast of the capital Luanda, have been hailed as the best chance for a lasting solution to the conflict following the death of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi on 22 February. In its paper on "Angola's privatised war" titled All the President's Men, Global Witness alleges that it has discovered evidence of a US$1,1 billion account in the British Virgin Islands that is "connected to a company supplying the Angolan military, whose signatories move amongst the highest levels of Angolan public life". "This account may go some way to explaining the black holes in state finances, such as the US$1,4 billion – about a third of estimated state revenue – that economists close to the IMF’s [International Monetary Fund] Oil Diagnostic study suggest is currently missing from state accounts in 2001," the paper said. Global Witness was among several groups to make presentations at the symposium titled "Economic Agendas in Armed Conflict: Defining and Developing the Role of the UN" that began on Monday in New York. Opening the symposium, Norway Foreign Minister Jan Petersen said: "Struggles over natural resources can trigger hostilities, turn low intensity conflicts into full-scale war, and prolong terror and violence." "Rich natural resources provide opportunities, but they do not ensure results. Oil, timber, diamonds and minerals are no guarantee of peace and prosperity. They frequently contribute to the opposite, as we have so tragically seen in Africa and elsewhere. Valuable natural resources may not only trigger wars, but also sustain them. During the past decades, economically driven conflicts have become not only more frequent, but also more persistent." Global Witness said in a press release that the Angolan government now had the initiative following Savimbi's death. "Global Witness calls on (the government) to counter the vested economic interests in maintaining the war by dismantling the web of secrecy around Angola's oil revenues. The international community must help counter such 'resource wars' in future by ending the practice of secret deals between transnational resource companies and unaccountable government elites. "Solutions must level the playing field between competitors by requiring multinational resource extraction companies to publish what they pay to all national governments as part of the requirements for being listed on international securities exchanges," it said. For the full Global Witness report go to: http://www.fatbeehive.com For more information on the New York symposium go to: http://www.norway-un.org