Whitehall told to reveal ID of arms sales staff
by David Leigh and Rob Evans from The Guardian
The information tribunal said there was "strong public concern" about the arms industry and a "continuing public debate over allegations regarding the payment of bribes by or on behalf of BAE in favour of Saudi officials". Deso is headed by a former BAE executive, Alan Garwood, who was interviewed by the Serious Fraud Office over long-running government-authorised £1bn payments to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia. Both BAE and Prince Bandar say the payments were legitimate. Tony Blair as prime minister halted the SFO inquiry, again citing "national security". The US department of justice has now launched its own investigation. The Ministry of Defence fought a two and a half year campaign to conceal the names of the 466 civil servants at Deso.