Tuesday, June 16th: Six people in France have been sentenced to two to five years in prison for accepting a bribe of about 1.8 million pounds in a submarine deal with Pakistan in the 1990’s.
Three former French government officials and three others were found involved in the ‘Karachi affair’ or ‘Karachi Gate’. The deal involved secret bribes to bring money to France. Some of the money was allegedly used for former French Prime Minister Édouard Balladur’s failed presidential campaign.
Balladur, 91, and his defense minister, Francois Leotard, have been charged and will face criminal trial in Paris in the coming months. Both men deny all allegations. The sentences handed down on Monday came after a lengthy investigation.
Among those arrested was Nicholas Buzzier, a former government official who had previously been Balladur’s election campaign manager.
Rena Donadio de Vibres, a former adviser to Leotard, was sentenced to three years in prison. Thierry Gabert, who was in charge of sales and commissions at the time and an old close associate of Budget Minister Sarkozy, has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Other people sentenced in Paris include former defense contractor Dominic Castillon, who was sentenced to two years in prison. Two Lebanese nationals acting as mediators in the agreement have been sentenced to five years in prison.
According to the AFP news agency, Lebanese businessmen Ziad Tekedin and Abdul-Rahman Al-Asir had refused to appear before a court in Paris, so arrest warrants have been issued for them.
What is Karachi Affair or Karachi Gate?
On May 8, 2002, a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a French engineers’ minibus in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, killing 14 people, including 11 French engineers He was an employee of the Navy’s construction company DCN.
The engineers were here in Pakistan to build the Augusta submarine, which was sold by France to Pakistan. During the investigation into the attack, a commission scandal broke out between Pakistani and French dignitaries, known as the Karachi affair. Was named.
Purchasing submarines from France instead of Sweden
Former Pakistan Navy DG Intelligence Commodore, Shahid Ashraf, told Express Urdu in an interview that in 1992, during Nawaz Sharif’s first term, the Navy approved the purchase of submarines worth 52,520 million.
A committee comprising Admiral Naqvi, Admiral Javed Iftikhar and Admiral Mujtaba was formed which visited China, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom and recommended that the submarine be procured from Sweden.
Admiral Saeed Khan then reconstituted a team that visited the four countries and recommended the purchase of the Augusta 90 submarine from Britain or France. When the Augusta purchase agreement was signed on August 21, 1994, Benazir Bhutto was in power.
The Augusta submarine is considered the backbone of the Pakistan Navy. In 1994, three Augusta submarines were ordered, one of which was manufactured in France while the other two were manufactured in Pakistan. The French naval company DCN had also allowed its commercial sale to Pakistan. The submarine can go up to 350 meters deep in the sea.
Commission in the Augusta Agreement
The French company Sefoma received 338 million francs in the deal, while two Lebanese nationals took a 4% commission through an offshore company, amounting to 216 million francs, which was also paid to Pakistan’s assistant or mediator in the deal.
The Karachi Affair, a book based on Augusta Dale’s investigation, mentions Admiral Mansoorul Haq, chief of the Pakistan Navy, and businessman Amir Lodhi, and says that two Lebanese businessmen were later added.
The book quotes Irfan Qadir, the Prosecutor General of the National Accountability Bureau, as saying that the commission was split into two but Mansoor-ul-Haq blamed Lodhi.
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