Transcripts For ALJAZ Inside Story 2019 Ep 179 20240714 : vi

Dealing with its actually quite disparaging it shouldnt be surprising but it is it shouldnt be surprising. Given the the the other countries on that list of members as well but as an eritrean and knowing intimately what goes on in eritrea it is indeed its very shocking its sudden ng it also makes a mockery of the system that is meant to monitor human rights respect for human rights at the highest level globally to be you know for one of the Member States overlooking this work to be one of the the the most abject violators so yeah its surprising its shocking and its sad our lalo i want to bring it down to the basics here very few people know exactly what is going on inside eritrea and if you could sum up for us what what is happening in eritrea what is happening to the average person there i think as you said in the introduction it is really very difficult to know what is actually going good in everything it is a pretty cold the system there is very little access to the media media is controlled by the government there is no independent media but we know that people leave in huge Numbers National sort of this is a huge problem. You know government does not tolerate opposing voices those who are pulls out a significant risk to their senses so the masses i think widespread Human Rights Violations are very well known they are very well documented but it. Its very difficult actually to get a sense of what is actually happening in the region we see the reports from time to time documenting why is byelection so human rights but beyond that we havent really seen very clear evidence of the nature of abuse as well a sions that happened there i just want to say one quick make what we have good point on the Human Rights Council and its membership but i counsel i think its important to realize that the United Nations generally and its values human rights systems are more real is there primarily to protect individuals and particularly individuals in these authoritarian nations they are part of the broader set of compromise among various states where these nations if you look at them pl the countries that have been on the membership of the council they are some of the worst abusers of human rights so it is a given the take between the various states that takes place in terms of the process of electing countries i dont think we should put too much emphasis on who is on the Human Rights Council and who is not much in plaid on that note firstly can you shed any more light on what is happening in eritrea particularly to the common common person and to the whole idea of this un Human Rights Council not necessarily protecting the Wider Population instead is more about the governments. Well i mean thats absolutely right and i mean the only thing i would say about it is that the u. N. Has appointed a special rapporteur on human rights in eritrea and she and her predecessor have repeatedly attempted to negotiate to talk to the eritrean government and to visit the country and shes been consistently blocked from doing so so this is absolutely no interest from the from the government in in participating in that dialogue the other thing one mustnt forget is that the air trans are now in charge of whats known as the khartoum process that is the relationship between the European Union and africa all the major african nations particularly bordering on the mediterranean are part of that system and they supposed to control the flow of refugees and migrants from africa and eritrea is in control of that now that is something sanctioned by the European Union which is really disgusting when you come to you are asked about the impact on ordinary people one of the most shocking things about the eritrean government is their lack of concern about the hardship that people undergo there has been very Little Development in eritrea since independence which is tragic because air trans are some of the most hardworking and ingenious people ive ever come across and they would certainly like to develop but the government basically says we dont need aid we dont need any assistance we can stand on our own 2 feet which in itself is quite laudable but the fact is at the end of the day they dont even encourage investment from other eritreans in the diaspora who would love to invest if there was a secure busy plan to do it in so the result is that people are very poor they are shortages of things like electricity of water all these kind of things is Poor Services that people have to rely on and that is the cost that ordinary people are having as a result of this regime. I will add one of the few facts that has kept come out and i dont know how accurate it is is that less than 2 percent of the population pay tax so how is the government surviving who is propping them up i mean martin just told us a bit about the fact that theyre rejecting not only european aid but theyre also rejecting money from eritreans abroad so how does that country functioning i think a return to road still pay a 2 percent tax on their income this is comparably for every 10th will go to if they want to go back to their country if they want to secure for example a passport for their children that have to evidence that they have been paying that tax i do not know how many are essentially were told and how much remittance rigs are in this form from those taxes. Bad you know the fact that we have not made significant progress in terms of Economic Development means that theres not really much happening in terms of the government providing the basic infrastructure so basic necessities for for the population but you know i also want to note that i think regions are very hardworking people i think very intelligent people they have money to find a way of providing for some basic of the things i feel if you compare some of the thankful. There with some other countries it is doing well where do they get the money to do that i dont know there are certain countries in the middle east what sample that have relationship with eritrea but i dont know if those countries that are supporting experience in terms of financial and other budgetary support. So im going to out on what one of the things that i think many would find baffling is this whole idea of military conscription and the fact that it is indefinite. Many people i understand or many of the refugees who have left eritrea have used that as a reason or are saying you know its bonded labor basically what are you hearing about and what do you face when you are in the military. I mean in fact its its inside in slave mental funny entire generation because if you think about it the last year of High School Education is actually only given the military Training Center this our military Training Center which is the age of 16 own 17 or young people have to go there from the entire country and from that point onwards at the age of 16 or 17 theyre all conscripts basically theyre told its hard to question on facility but theyre regimented they have their butts highly uncertain and they have good theyre given military training alongside their studies and more importantly they cannot do that year at home and from that point onwards they are basically soldiers so after that its endless if they if theyre told their past exams then they would go for 4 education education and then be given civilian jobs otherwise more will become. Become soldiers going to the army and there is no. Theres no end to that theres no. Official end to that people leave the country or people just abscond and stay at home so it becomes effectively. Indefinite there are people who have been serving since 1994 and there are people who have left after serving 20 years 10 years and now increasingly what we see is young people children leaving before they they hit that that age and because the regime has made it impossible for people to leave with their children because anybody who has a child or basically if youre a toddler and above then you cannot leave the country without special permission so people are leaving with their children as soon as theyre born or theyre waiting for their children to be old enough to cross the borders illegally so the national soul. Hes has got a hold on the entire sits in his sits an area at the entire generation and yes it is an indefinite bondage of slavery martin its really hard to fathom what kind of a society is being created in a very easy to understand why people want to leave that country sadly. You bet president is a is do you ever a clear understanding of what he is trying to build if anything at all. Thats a very good question and im afraid its hard to answer you know he is somebody who basically believes that he is eritrea that there is nothing that is not him that he personifies the entire country and that anybody who steps out of line the top or questions anything that he does is basically incorrect and against the whole nation because he is the nation and hes always taken absolutely inflexible view of his role and that of the struggle i mean in the 30 years that they fought against the ethiopians for the independence and it was one of the most heroic struggles africa has ever seen i mean he didnt tolerate any kind of opposition of any kind people were killed. As a result and when i met him you know there is something about him hes an intelligent man but hes somebody who you know literally has looks at you as if he has an utter contempt for you and for anything that you might think about or want to say and although he used a lot of people from abroad at various times in to help the struggle for independence and here i certainly supported the independence of eritrea and you know they continued existence but you know he really he doesnt rate anybody who isnt an absolute supporter of him personally and the few people who are around him given that. To the people you speak to and many of them who freshly left the country have any hope that there will be some kind of regime change or that eritrea will eventually have a democracy. Absolutely every eritrean leaves for that day even those that. Say they support the regime leave for the day that change will come air trans such a small country and everybody. Is kind of has got this strong sense of identity as an eritrean and that its the strength of that identity that keeps everybody going the situation is totally unsustainable that there isnt you who you would be if people were talking honestly it would be very difficult to find people who supports whats going on beyond the fear factor beyond the the sheer cheerleading type support for that for the government if you come to the nitty gritty of the continuation of the nation everybody agrees that there needs to be change and that the ducts thats what keeps people like me hopefully we will be able to salvage some kind of democracy some kind of justice for our nation and and im not unique in thinking that so much more discussion needed and so much so much more to talk about unfortunately weve come to the and diversion to id like to thank our guests donna. And martin part of course all of you thank you so much for your time and thank you for speaking to us on this very important and interesting country and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website youll find that at our desire dot com and for further discussion why dont you go to our Facebook Page youll find that at facebook dot com forward slash a. J. Inside story and remember you can always join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a. J. Inside story from me in the team here this is inside story thank you for watching. July on aljazeera will the conservative new democracy be victorious in the snap elections we bring you the latest as greece votes a new documentary examines the use of modern technology and policing its impact on individual rights and Civil Society on the 50th anniversary of the apollo 11 Lunar Landing we look back at the 1st human steps on the moon and an ancient statue of apollo disappears in gaza a stunning archaeological mystery unfolds on witness 2nd round of democratic president ial candidate debates in the u. S. Will be in line in detroit july on aljazeera. Mining is. Ive always thought of yoga as part of my heritage. Understand it to be about transformation. Eltons to be transforming western mentality right about this and thats very different from this right you know right there that yoga should belong to everyone but im afraid that simple truth is getting lost in a world thats so commercialized and the disciples who owns yoga on aljazeera. Talk to aljazeera. We ask problems and besides the instability is corruption we listen since i hadnt been so who are pushing the United States and President Trump into conflict we meet with global newsmakers and talk about the stories that matter does their own. Alarm has a seeker in dalhart the top stories on aljazeera regional tensions trade wars and personal differences are in the spotlight on day one of the g. 20 summit in japan but it was a meeting between russian president Vladimir Putin and u. S. President donald trump the strong the most attention our White House Correspondent kimberly how to get reports from osaka. Smiles and even a fist bump between japanese leader shinzo ave indias Narendra Modi and u. S. President donald trump even though prior to their g 20 meeting trump criticized both. And at a g. 20 leaders family photo trump was again smiling with saudi arabias crown Prince Mohammed bin solomon even though u. S. Intelligence congress and the United Nations say the kingdom was responsible for the murder of journalist. Also notable during that photo op chinese president xi seeking out trump in the midst of their ongoing trade war to shake hands that gesture was apparently lost on trump despite shes defense of chinas digital policies trump indirectly blame shes government for intellectual property theft and risks to 5 g. Security at the same time as we expand digital trade we must also ensure the resilience and security of our 5 g. Networks this is essential to our shared safety and prosperi. The process of paper collection analysis and circulation east but we also need to respect the solvers rights of each nation. Their differences foreshadow a potentially tense meeting between the leaders of the worlds 2 largest economies on saturday and less hope for resolving the us china trade war but looming over all of this was trumps meeting with russian president Vladimir Putin their 1st since u. S. Special counsel Robert Muller released his report detailing russian interference the 2016 u. S. Election instead of forcefully confronting pugin issued just a light hearted warning. A white house readout of trumps meeting with the paris cast arms control venezuela syria and iran but theres no mention of the action. Interference and trumps half hearted word of caution to a potent well somewhat expected is once again in biting criticism for trumps failure to forcefully confront russias leader cant really help it aljazeera. Putin has also made outgoing u. K. Prime minister to resign made their 1st formal talks since the poisoning of former russian spy service cripple in seouls ri last year may told putin the use of a nerve agent was unacceptable and that the u. K. Has irrefutable evidence russia was behind the attack and says both sides should put the incident behind them former u. S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson has described being kept in the dark about Foreign Policy during testimony before a committee in washington last week to listen accused white house adviser general question of operating independently of the state Department Iran is warning that a meeting underway in vienna will be the last chance to save the 2015 nuclear deal diplomats from the 5 remaining signatories are meeting iranian leaders in australia as an austrian capital iran is threatening to boost uranium enrichment after the u. S. Imposed further sanctions to strangle its Oil Dependent economy American Special envoy on iran brian hooks says washingtons on track to deny to run 50000000000. 00 in oil revenue bahrains record its ambassador to iraq after demonstrators broke into its embassy in baghdad hundreds of iraqis stormed into the diplomatic compound over the u. S. Sponsored manana conference on the Israeli Palestinian conflict a 50000000000. 00 economic plan for palestinians was unveiled by white house advisor John Kirshner in behind this week forecasters are warning this she is on track to be among the hottest ever u. N. Meteorologists say if it continues the world would have seen the warmest 5 year period and on record and it says heat waves are expected to become more intense much longer so those are the headlines shadow world is next. When we stumbled on the saudi arms deal. We really started to stumble on a central feature of british politics over the last 30 years harnessed french has been at the heart of many of the great world events of the past 30 years i was always peace to see him when i was Prime Minister. She considers saudi arabia as a strong friend and would be willing to support taking them with whatever they came to meet and of discussion from there on Everything Else was technical. He explained to mrs thatcher that this was a deal with saudi arabia and therefore things were done differently. They wanted 43000000000. 00 worth of weaponry that was 6000000000. 00 pounds in commission. The cost majority of most people understand its bright. When an executive goes to bribe a foreign official he says to himself look ive taken a lot of risk to take this 5000000. 00 that im paying to the Prime Minister of x. Y. Z. He makes an arrangement with Member States<\/a> overlooking this work to be one of the the the most abject violators so yeah its surprising its shocking and its sad our lalo i want to bring it down to the basics here very few people know exactly what is going on inside eritrea and if you could sum up for us what what is happening in eritrea what is happening to the average person there i think as you said in the introduction it is really very difficult to know what is actually going good in everything it is a pretty cold the system there is very little access to the media media is controlled by the government there is no independent media but we know that people leave in huge Numbers National<\/a> sort of this is a huge problem. You know government does not tolerate opposing voices those who are pulls out a significant risk to their senses so the masses i think widespread Human Rights Violations<\/a> are very well known they are very well documented but it. Its very difficult actually to get a sense of what is actually happening in the region we see the reports from time to time documenting why is byelection so human rights but beyond that we havent really seen very clear evidence of the nature of abuse as well a sions that happened there i just want to say one quick make what we have good point on the Human Rights Council<\/a> and its membership but i counsel i think its important to realize that the United Nations<\/a> generally and its values human rights systems are more real is there primarily to protect individuals and particularly individuals in these authoritarian nations they are part of the broader set of compromise among various states where these nations if you look at them pl the countries that have been on the membership of the council they are some of the worst abusers of human rights so it is a given the take between the various states that takes place in terms of the process of electing countries i dont think we should put too much emphasis on who is on the Human Rights Council<\/a> and who is not much in plaid on that note firstly can you shed any more light on what is happening in eritrea particularly to the common common person and to the whole idea of this un Human Rights Council<\/a> not necessarily protecting the Wider Population<\/a> instead is more about the governments. Well i mean thats absolutely right and i mean the only thing i would say about it is that the u. N. Has appointed a special rapporteur on human rights in eritrea and she and her predecessor have repeatedly attempted to negotiate to talk to the eritrean government and to visit the country and shes been consistently blocked from doing so so this is absolutely no interest from the from the government in in participating in that dialogue the other thing one mustnt forget is that the air trans are now in charge of whats known as the khartoum process that is the relationship between the European Union<\/a> and africa all the major african nations particularly bordering on the mediterranean are part of that system and they supposed to control the flow of refugees and migrants from africa and eritrea is in control of that now that is something sanctioned by the European Union<\/a> which is really disgusting when you come to you are asked about the impact on ordinary people one of the most shocking things about the eritrean government is their lack of concern about the hardship that people undergo there has been very Little Development<\/a> in eritrea since independence which is tragic because air trans are some of the most hardworking and ingenious people ive ever come across and they would certainly like to develop but the government basically says we dont need aid we dont need any assistance we can stand on our own 2 feet which in itself is quite laudable but the fact is at the end of the day they dont even encourage investment from other eritreans in the diaspora who would love to invest if there was a secure busy plan to do it in so the result is that people are very poor they are shortages of things like electricity of water all these kind of things is Poor Services<\/a> that people have to rely on and that is the cost that ordinary people are having as a result of this regime. I will add one of the few facts that has kept come out and i dont know how accurate it is is that less than 2 percent of the population pay tax so how is the government surviving who is propping them up i mean martin just told us a bit about the fact that theyre rejecting not only european aid but theyre also rejecting money from eritreans abroad so how does that country functioning i think a return to road still pay a 2 percent tax on their income this is comparably for every 10th will go to if they want to go back to their country if they want to secure for example a passport for their children that have to evidence that they have been paying that tax i do not know how many are essentially were told and how much remittance rigs are in this form from those taxes. Bad you know the fact that we have not made significant progress in terms of Economic Development<\/a> means that theres not really much happening in terms of the government providing the basic infrastructure so basic necessities for for the population but you know i also want to note that i think regions are very hardworking people i think very intelligent people they have money to find a way of providing for some basic of the things i feel if you compare some of the thankful. There with some other countries it is doing well where do they get the money to do that i dont know there are certain countries in the middle east what sample that have relationship with eritrea but i dont know if those countries that are supporting experience in terms of financial and other budgetary support. So im going to out on what one of the things that i think many would find baffling is this whole idea of military conscription and the fact that it is indefinite. Many people i understand or many of the refugees who have left eritrea have used that as a reason or are saying you know its bonded labor basically what are you hearing about and what do you face when you are in the military. I mean in fact its its inside in slave mental funny entire generation because if you think about it the last year of High School Education<\/a> is actually only given the military Training Center<\/a> this our military Training Center<\/a> which is the age of 16 own 17 or young people have to go there from the entire country and from that point onwards at the age of 16 or 17 theyre all conscripts basically theyre told its hard to question on facility but theyre regimented they have their butts highly uncertain and they have good theyre given military training alongside their studies and more importantly they cannot do that year at home and from that point onwards they are basically soldiers so after that its endless if they if theyre told their past exams then they would go for 4 education education and then be given civilian jobs otherwise more will become. Become soldiers going to the army and there is no. Theres no end to that theres no. Official end to that people leave the country or people just abscond and stay at home so it becomes effectively. Indefinite there are people who have been serving since 1994 and there are people who have left after serving 20 years 10 years and now increasingly what we see is young people children leaving before they they hit that that age and because the regime has made it impossible for people to leave with their children because anybody who has a child or basically if youre a toddler and above then you cannot leave the country without special permission so people are leaving with their children as soon as theyre born or theyre waiting for their children to be old enough to cross the borders illegally so the national soul. Hes has got a hold on the entire sits in his sits an area at the entire generation and yes it is an indefinite bondage of slavery martin its really hard to fathom what kind of a society is being created in a very easy to understand why people want to leave that country sadly. You bet president is a is do you ever a clear understanding of what he is trying to build if anything at all. Thats a very good question and im afraid its hard to answer you know he is somebody who basically believes that he is eritrea that there is nothing that is not him that he personifies the entire country and that anybody who steps out of line the top or questions anything that he does is basically incorrect and against the whole nation because he is the nation and hes always taken absolutely inflexible view of his role and that of the struggle i mean in the 30 years that they fought against the ethiopians for the independence and it was one of the most heroic struggles africa has ever seen i mean he didnt tolerate any kind of opposition of any kind people were killed. As a result and when i met him you know there is something about him hes an intelligent man but hes somebody who you know literally has looks at you as if he has an utter contempt for you and for anything that you might think about or want to say and although he used a lot of people from abroad at various times in to help the struggle for independence and here i certainly supported the independence of eritrea and you know they continued existence but you know he really he doesnt rate anybody who isnt an absolute supporter of him personally and the few people who are around him given that. To the people you speak to and many of them who freshly left the country have any hope that there will be some kind of regime change or that eritrea will eventually have a democracy. Absolutely every eritrean leaves for that day even those that. Say they support the regime leave for the day that change will come air trans such a small country and everybody. Is kind of has got this strong sense of identity as an eritrean and that its the strength of that identity that keeps everybody going the situation is totally unsustainable that there isnt you who you would be if people were talking honestly it would be very difficult to find people who supports whats going on beyond the fear factor beyond the the sheer cheerleading type support for that for the government if you come to the nitty gritty of the continuation of the nation everybody agrees that there needs to be change and that the ducts thats what keeps people like me hopefully we will be able to salvage some kind of democracy some kind of justice for our nation and and im not unique in thinking that so much more discussion needed and so much so much more to talk about unfortunately weve come to the and diversion to id like to thank our guests donna. And martin part of course all of you thank you so much for your time and thank you for speaking to us on this very important and interesting country and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website youll find that at our desire dot com and for further discussion why dont you go to our Facebook Page<\/a> youll find that at facebook dot com forward slash a. J. Inside story and remember you can always join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a. J. Inside story from me in the team here this is inside story thank you for watching. July on aljazeera will the conservative new democracy be victorious in the snap elections we bring you the latest as greece votes a new documentary examines the use of modern technology and policing its impact on individual rights and Civil Society<\/a> on the 50th anniversary of the apollo 11 Lunar Landing<\/a> we look back at the 1st human steps on the moon and an ancient statue of apollo disappears in gaza a stunning archaeological mystery unfolds on witness 2nd round of democratic president ial candidate debates in the u. S. Will be in line in detroit july on aljazeera. Mining is. Ive always thought of yoga as part of my heritage. Understand it to be about transformation. Eltons to be transforming western mentality right about this and thats very different from this right you know right there that yoga should belong to everyone but im afraid that simple truth is getting lost in a world thats so commercialized and the disciples who owns yoga on aljazeera. Talk to aljazeera. We ask problems and besides the instability is corruption we listen since i hadnt been so who are pushing the United States<\/a> and President Trump<\/a> into conflict we meet with global newsmakers and talk about the stories that matter does their own. Alarm has a seeker in dalhart the top stories on aljazeera regional tensions trade wars and personal differences are in the spotlight on day one of the g. 20 summit in japan but it was a meeting between russian president Vladimir Putin<\/a> and u. S. President donald trump the strong the most attention our White House Correspondent<\/a> kimberly how to get reports from osaka. Smiles and even a fist bump between japanese leader shinzo ave indias Narendra Modi<\/a> and u. S. President donald trump even though prior to their g 20 meeting trump criticized both. And at a g. 20 leaders family photo trump was again smiling with saudi arabias crown Prince Mohammed<\/a> bin solomon even though u. S. Intelligence congress and the United Nations<\/a> say the kingdom was responsible for the murder of journalist. Also notable during that photo op chinese president xi seeking out trump in the midst of their ongoing trade war to shake hands that gesture was apparently lost on trump despite shes defense of chinas digital policies trump indirectly blame shes government for intellectual property theft and risks to 5 g. Security at the same time as we expand digital trade we must also ensure the resilience and security of our 5 g. Networks this is essential to our shared safety and prosperi. The process of paper collection analysis and circulation east but we also need to respect the solvers rights of each nation. Their differences foreshadow a potentially tense meeting between the leaders of the worlds 2 largest economies on saturday and less hope for resolving the us china trade war but looming over all of this was trumps meeting with russian president Vladimir Putin<\/a> their 1st since u. S. Special counsel Robert Muller<\/a> released his report detailing russian interference the 2016 u. S. Election instead of forcefully confronting pugin issued just a light hearted warning. A white house readout of trumps meeting with the paris cast arms control venezuela syria and iran but theres no mention of the action. Interference and trumps half hearted word of caution to a potent well somewhat expected is once again in biting criticism for trumps failure to forcefully confront russias leader cant really help it aljazeera. Putin has also made outgoing u. K. Prime minister to resign made their 1st formal talks since the poisoning of former russian spy service cripple in seouls ri last year may told putin the use of a nerve agent was unacceptable and that the u. K. Has irrefutable evidence russia was behind the attack and says both sides should put the incident behind them former u. S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson<\/a> has described being kept in the dark about Foreign Policy<\/a> during testimony before a committee in washington last week to listen accused white house adviser general question of operating independently of the state Department Iran<\/a> is warning that a meeting underway in vienna will be the last chance to save the 2015 nuclear deal diplomats from the 5 remaining signatories are meeting iranian leaders in australia as an austrian capital iran is threatening to boost uranium enrichment after the u. S. Imposed further sanctions to strangle its Oil Dependent<\/a> economy American Special<\/a> envoy on iran brian hooks says washingtons on track to deny to run 50000000000. 00 in oil revenue bahrains record its ambassador to iraq after demonstrators broke into its embassy in baghdad hundreds of iraqis stormed into the diplomatic compound over the u. S. Sponsored manana conference on the Israeli Palestinian<\/a> conflict a 50000000000. 00 economic plan for palestinians was unveiled by white house advisor John Kirshner<\/a> in behind this week forecasters are warning this she is on track to be among the hottest ever u. N. Meteorologists say if it continues the world would have seen the warmest 5 year period and on record and it says heat waves are expected to become more intense much longer so those are the headlines shadow world is next. When we stumbled on the saudi arms deal. We really started to stumble on a central feature of british politics over the last 30 years harnessed french has been at the heart of many of the great world events of the past 30 years i was always peace to see him when i was Prime Minister<\/a>. She considers saudi arabia as a strong friend and would be willing to support taking them with whatever they came to meet and of discussion from there on Everything Else<\/a> was technical. He explained to mrs thatcher that this was a deal with saudi arabia and therefore things were done differently. They wanted 43000000000. 00 worth of weaponry that was 6000000000. 00 pounds in commission. The cost majority of most people understand its bright. When an executive goes to bribe a foreign official he says to himself look ive taken a lot of risk to take this 5000000. 00 that im paying to the Prime Minister<\/a> of x. Y. Z. He makes an arrangement with Prime Minister<\/a> of x. Y. Z. Ill hand over the 5000000 but you take half of that 5000000 and you send it to the following bank account and shortfall and again nothing is money i dont mind paying bribes to politicians its part of the deal this thing about politicians is that theyre very much like prostitutes but only more expensive. From the 1950 s. All the way through the 1970 s. The cia and the u. S. Military were engaged in covert actions throughout central med america throughout africa really throughout the world where they were assassinating populist leaders they were backing up right Wing Military<\/a> juntas funding and arming death squads like the contras in nicaragua or battalion 316. 00 and under us and there were these spate of assassinations across the globe. Individuals operating in the shadows they never having their names called are able to leverage the power of the military and the Foreign Policy<\/a> apparatus for their own personal pick uni ery and. Our war on terror. Begins with al qaida. But it does not in thank you this very very is woman on terror is irrational its like saying. A war on all war on violence a war that its nonsense you skipping into this possibility of confidential wall. Our your little kid reassuring us and we kept believing him because you dont want to think your Prime Minister<\/a> is deceiving you and the route to one is nothing more serious. When the Serious Fraud<\/a> office launched its investigation into all the crimes that we were covering it turned out that many of these arms deals have been forced through by tony blair personally he said david kay saddam salesman when ever there was a dispute ever in government he always found the onset. The Serious Fraud<\/a> office got to the brink of uncovering the secret Swiss Bank Accounts<\/a> by which be was from owning money to the saudi royal family the swiss said were going to notify the Bank Account Holders<\/a> randolph flew to london blast swung into action. He ordered the Serious Fraud<\/a> office to close down their investigation. Prince bandar said if the investigation continued they would withdraw a National Security<\/a> cooperation which would lead in the words of prince bandar to blood on the streets of london. The story weve been banging away out for more than 5 years is something they really work up to it because everybody could see was a huge cover up scandal the spectacle of a british Prime Minister<\/a> closing bell of a criminal investigation. Were you aware that your government was approving payments to a friend of president bushs as part of British Aerospace<\/a> is kicked back system is that why you suspended a fraud inquiry. When tony blair started talking about National Security<\/a> address thats supposed to be a card that trumps all others i dont believe the investigation is that it would have led anywhere except to the complete wreckage of a vital strategic relationship for our country in terms of fighting terrorism in terms of the middle east in terms of british interests there. So these things absolutely stunning it seems to be a very expensive way of organizing payment when was the military equipment and now the money. Blair came to south africa specifically to lobby the b. The british weapons manufacturers one the biggest contract on our arms deal. And the option that they presented was 2 and a half times more expensive than the plane that the south African Air Force<\/a> actually wanted. A the systems real performance real advantage. As monday was about to step down from public life his successor tabel and betty made the decision to spend around 10000000000. 00 quite scarce Public Resources<\/a> on this weaponry that we didnt need. Rather than provide lifesaving men. Cation for the almost 6000000 South Africans<\/a> who were then living with hiv. The primary reason for those deals was that around 300000000. 00 in bribes were paid to senior politicians. And sadly to the African National<\/a> congress the a. N. C. My own party. I was called in by a Senior Member<\/a> of the a. N. C. Is National Executive<\/a> council he said to me look angry this is a battle you cannot win because this money the briars we used to fund our 999 election. And almost immediately im asked to make a statement to the press that says theres nothing to investigate. Its all over. And i looked at him last said no no. I wont be able to live with myself if i stop this investigation but at the same time im also realizing that this is the end of my political career. Ahead","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia601007.us.archive.org\/14\/items\/ALJAZ_20190628_173200_Inside_Story_2019_Ep_179\/ALJAZ_20190628_173200_Inside_Story_2019_Ep_179.thumbs\/ALJAZ_20190628_173200_Inside_Story_2019_Ep_179_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240716T12:35:10+00:00"}