Deal stopped over al-Qaeda link

2005-10-13 10:38

Blantyre - Malawi has cancelled a $30m fertiliser deal with a Saudi Arabian company with alleged links to al-Qaeda, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe told parliament that the United States-based Citibank had refused to deal with the unnamed Saudi Arabian fertiliser firm because "they had al-Qaeda connections."

"We are in the process of withdrawing, we have not paid the money," he told parliament on Wednesday in the administrative capital Lilongwe, The Nation daily reported.

Malawi, faced with a food crisis that threatens up to five million people this year, wants to import over 100 000 tonnes of fertiliser to give to poor farmers to shore up food production.

Gondwe said Saudi Arabia was identified as stocking the cheapest fertiliser after a team of Malawian government officials travelled the globe looking for the best deal.

Gondwe did not name the Saudi Arabian company despite repeated calls from opposition members.

Malawi two years ago deported five suspected members of al-Qaeda from the southern African nation.

- AFP