The Carlyle Group, a large investment firm linked to US and British politicians, has pulled out of a scheme to recover billions of dollars from Iraq, following the publication in The Guardian this week of documents detailing the secret proposals of a consortium with which it was involved.
Carlyle published a withdrawal letter yesterday sent to other members of its consortium.
The consortium offered a confidential deal to use its political influence to collect a US$27 billion debt owed by Iraq to Kuwait, despite US pleas for debt forgiveness from other countries.
A Carlyle partner, former US secretary of state James Baker, has been accused of a conflict of interest, because he has been touring the world demanding debt relief on behalf of US President George W. Bush, while his firm had a private interest in doing a special deal with Kuwait.
Carlyle's letter, signed by its general counsel, Jeffrey Ferguson, and dated Oct. 13, says: "Carlyle does not want to participate in the consortium's work in any way, shape or form and will not invest any money raised by the consortium's efforts."
The letter also claims that at the time Baker was appointed the president's debt envoy that "Mr Baker understood that Carlyle would have no involvement with the consortium."
Carlyle admits it was involved in the original scheme by a consortium of financiers and lobbyists, who lobbied Kuwait at a meeting on July 16 last year.
Documents from the consortium describe Carlyle's chairman, former US defense secretary Frank Carlucci, as the man who "played a convening and guiding role on behalf of Carlyle."
They also specifically mention Baker's name as one of the "leading individuals associated with Carlyle" who they claim will be free to play a "decisive role" once Baker retires from his "temporary position" as debt forgiveness envoy.
The scheme had two parts. The first was to turn over Kuwait's US$27 billion war reparations debt to a foundation set up by the consortium, which would then use its political influence to ensure Iraq was made to pay up.
The second part of the plan was to benefit Carlyle specifically, by handing over to them US$1 billion from Kuwait to manage in their investment funds.
The documents suggest that Carlyle scaled back its stated involvement in the scheme while Baker was in his official post, but Kuwait was informed by the consortium that this was temporary.
The letter to Kuwait with the detailed proposal confirming Carlyle's continuation as a participant was signed by another former secretary of state turned lobbyist, Madeleine Albright, by a Washington law firm, Coudert Bros, and by the consortium's leader, Shahameen Sheikh of the "International Strategy Group."
In its second change of position in as many days, Carlyle claimed yesterday in its letter that "Carlyle was never a member of the consortium." The previous day, its spokesman claimed Carlyle "withdrew" from the consortium after Baker became debt envoy last December.
The day before that, its spokesman Chris Ullman told The Guardian, Carlyle had merely "restricted" its consortium role.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS