Kommentare zu: Pentagon: Supplier Under Scrutiny on Arms for Afghans (from Albania)

Von: ctstmaser

ctstmaser — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:52:24 +0000

$4.2M unfrozen from Miami Beach munitions dealer’s accounts
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Efraim Diveroli is seen March 5, 2008. The U.S. Army had suspended a Miami Beach company, owned by Diveroli, from doing any government contract work for reportedly providing Chinese-made ammunition to the Afghanistan army, in violation of its contract and U.S. law.
Efraim Diveroli is seen March 5, 2008. The U.S. Army had suspended a Miami Beach company, owned by Diveroli, from doing any government contract work for reportedly providing Chinese-made ammunition to the Afghanistan army, in violation of its contract and U.S. law.
PROVIDED BY THE MIAMI-DADE COUNTY CORRECTIONS DEPARTMENT

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Von: Lupo

Lupo — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 07:45:10 +0000

Albanian lawmakers point fingers over arms trafficking scandal

28/03/2008

TIRANA, Albania — Parliament’s session Thursday (March 27th) was marred by angry accusations between the ruling Democratic Party and the opposition over an arms deal the New York Times covered in detail Wednesday. The paper, which was investigating Pentagon contracts, said Albanian officials had closed shady weapons deals with the US-based firm AEY. The Pentagon suspended its contracts with the company earlier this week amid claims it was supplying decades-old ammunition to the Afghan army. The defence ministry rejected the claims by the newspaper, saying the contract with the company was approved by the US Defence Department and military intelligence services.

Opposition MPs also accused Prime Minister Sali Berisha of endangering Albania’s NATO membership bid by supporting trafficking and corruption networks. Socialist Party leader Edi Rama called on Berisha to resign as soon as possible, saying “he has shamed Albania”. Berisha denied the accusations. (Kohajone, Shqip, Panorama, GazetaShqiptare - 28/03/08; TopChannel, VOA, BalkanInsight - 27/03/08)

Von: CrniLabudovi

CrniLabudovi — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 07:27:20 +0000

Albania reels from munitions plant disaster

28/03/2008

The country is still in shock over the explosions at Gerdec, but some warn against politicising the tragedy.

By Klodjan Seferaj for Southeast European Times in Tirana — 28/03/08
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A man assesses what is left of house in the village of Memlisht, near Tirana, following the blast at an army munitions depot. [Getty Images]

Efforts to dismantle Albania’s stockpiles of obsolete munitions took a catastrophic turn on March 15th. A series of explosions occurred as crews were clearing out a storage depot in Gerdec, near Tirana. Two weeks later, the death toll remains unclear. Hundreds of people, including women and children, were said to be working at the facility when the blasts occurred. Thousands of houses and businesses in the vicinity were destroyed or seriously damaged.

Defence Minister Fatmir Mediu has since resigned, and the government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha has been battling opposition claims that it did not oversee the dismantlement process adequately.

Responses among Albanian bloggers vary. Some agree that the leadership bears responsibility, while others say it is inappropriate to politicise the tragedy.

Writing at shekulli, Shoqeria argues that the government has “the duty and responsibility to use millions of dollars donated from abroad in order to de-activate and clear the mines of this land, full of bomb depots that can explode from one moment to another. The government is also responsible for the guns and munitions market that was inherited from communism.”

One commenter, Gjorvi, suggests the catastrophe makes a mockery out of the government’s claims that Albania is ready to enter the atomic age. “You want to build a nuclear plant while people are dying from primitive bombs?” he asks.

At perpjekja, Fatos cautions against trying to reap political benefit from the Gerdec tragedy. Regardless of who is in power now, the problem has been inherited from successive governments and no one party is to blame, he suggests.

“We have enough of politicians that profit from the mistakes of their adversaries to access power and then commit even bigger mistakes,” he writes. “This was what has been done by the Socialists after they gained power in 1997, and this is what has been done by the Democrats since gaining power in 2005. We should learn from the Gerdec tragedy.”

Drita, responding to the post, recalls the “hypocrisy of the communist era”, when leaders proclaimed that humanity was the country’s most valuable resource. “Now, after 17 years in democracy, the hypocrisy continues,” Drita writes. “There is a lack of respect for human dignity and life.”

A blogger at peshkupauje, meanwhile, faults Berisha for attacking the media. At a public meeting of his cabinet on March 18th, the prime minister criticised coverage of the Gerdec explosions and described journalist as “mercenaries of the mafia“. His comments were later critcised by the Southeast Europe Media Organisation (SEEM).
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http://setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/blogreview/2008/03/28/blog-03