Bofors accused of exporting to RI

Bofors accused of exporting to RI

STOCKHOLM (AFP): Swedish arms firm Bofors received permission
from Swedish authorities to export weapons parts to Indonesia
despite opposition from the Swedish Trade Control Council, a
Swedish weapons export researcher revealed yesterday.

In an article published in the daily Aftonbladet, Henrik
Westander of the Swedish Peace Organization (Svenska Freds)
claimed that Bofors sold naval gun parts worth 1.5 million kronor
(US$187,500) to Indonesia in July after receiving the approval of
War Munitions Inspector Staffan Sohlman.

According to Westander, Sohlman, who is the head of the
Strategic Products Inspection (ISP), did not consult the Trade
Control Council, where five of seven political parties are
opposed to war materiel exports to Indonesia because of issues
related to East Timor and human rights.

Weapons sales to conflict regions are forbidden by Swedish
law.

Westander has over the past year been a thorn in Bofors' side,
revealing numerous irregularities in the company's transactions.

His revelations came ahead of a Trade Control Council meeting
on Monday.

"We are going to demand that all matters concerning Indonesia
be raised with the council," Liberal party security policy
spokesman Lennart Rhodin told Aftonbladet.

Westander had previously revealed that Sohlman in June also
approved an 8. 5 million kronor ($1.6 million) order to Indonesia
for weapons parts for its surface-to-air missiles.

And on Sunday, the researcher claimed in Aftonbladet that
Sohlman last year approved the sale of presses for the production
of grenade shells to Pakistan, worth 26 million kronor ($3.25
million), without consulting the Trade Control Council.

Bofors is notorious for a 1986 bribery scandal in India, in
which it is accused of paying out $50 million to secure a 1986
field gun deal worth $1.3 billion from the Indian government. The
scandal brought down the government of slain Indian prime
minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Bofors is still blacklisted in India, though Westander claimed
in July that the company is defying the ban by selling through a
Swedish intermediary.