Arms deal: Mbeki in the clear

2006-07-09 11:09

Johannesburg - The Scorpions say it has no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of President Thabo Mbeki in the arms deal - although the investigative unit has information linking the president to a French defence company implicated in irregularities related to the controversial deal.

The Sunday Times reported that when Mbeki was deputy president in 1998, he allegedly met executives of Thomson-CSF in Paris. The company, now called Thales, was bidding for a stake in the deal worth billions of rands.

Mbeki chaired a ministerial subcommittee responsible for approving the defence acquisition package. His meeting with executives from Thales raise conflict of interest questions, the newspaper said.

Mbeki allegedly met executives of Thales and its South African subsidiary Thint to discuss matters relating to the awarding of the corvette combat suite contract, and the defence company's black empowerment structure.

The Sunday Times quoted National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi as saying the Scorpions had found "no evidence of any wrongdoing by President Mbeki".

Mbeki had never been the subject of an investigation as this was not warranted, Nkosi said.

The newspaper said that Mbeki had last year claimed he could "not recall" whether he had met Thint executives while he was deputy president.

The NPA confirmation came as German prosecutors probe allegations of bribery in the arms deal.

Thint is facing corruption charges along with former deputy president Jacob Zuma. The case is scheduled to get underway in KwaZulu-Natal at the end of the month.

- SAPA