Re: Nigerian general strike on hold

[Diane Monaco <diane.monaco@xxxxxxxxx>]

Jim Devine wrote:
>[Interesting to note in this context that Nigeria is
>one of the few places in the developing world which has experienced
>widespread "labour shortages" recently.]
>
>that's because so many are employed sending us e-mails asking us to
help them get money out of the country...
>;-)
>Jim D

:))))

...a new scheme for ?international money laundering? that is better
equipped to disguise linkages to Dick Cheney and one that is not yet
part of the John Ashcroft anti-corruption package (more below).

Diane


5 Ex-Nigeria Officials Face Bribe Charges
Five Ex-Nigeria Officials Facing Charges of Taking Part of More Than
$1M in Bribes
The Associated Press
LAGOS, Nigeria Jan. 23

 ? Three former Nigerian Cabinet ministers and two other former
government officials face charges of accepting part of more than $1
million in bribes from a French electronics giant.

[?]

Nigeria also is following the French probe into allegations that a
consortium involving Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root paid
about $180 million to win a contract to build the $4 billion-plus
Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas plant in the mid-1990s.

Cheney was head of Halliburton for five of the seven years during which
the secret payments were allegedly made.


January 23, 2004
Ashcroft continues U.S. anti-corruption effort, says world must ?defend
our freedom from corruption?

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft delivered to the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland, one of the strongest messages the United
States has sent on official corruption, making it clear that it will
not be tolerated no matter under which flag it occurs.

?Twenty-eight months ago, all free nations were called to defend
freedom from terrorism,? Ashcroft said, in his January 22 speech.
?Today we are called to defend our freedom from corruption.?

Anti-terror, anti-corruption

Ashcroft asked that the nations that rallied against terrorism after
9/11 combine to lead an assault on corruption, which according to the
World Bank costs the world $2.3 trillion annually and often has a
powerful impact on impoverished nations whose globally-financed
assistance programs are looted by corrupt ?Politically Exposed Persons.?

?Corruption facilitates and perpetuates such transnational criminal
activity as organized crime, money laundering, drug trafficking, and
the smuggling of human beings,? Ashcroft said.