Eurasia Press & News
The US State Department cleared on Wednesday the US ambassador in Tirana, John L Withers and his staff of allegations that they helped cover up a murky arms deal between a pentagon contractor and the Albanian Ministry of Defence to supply the Afghan army.
“The Inspector General has reviewed all evidence made available and found nothing to substantiate criminal or any other allegations,” said the State Department in a statement.
The US Congress House and Oversight committee accused in June Washington’s Embassy in Tirana of helping Albanian officials keep an allegedly illegal arms shipment under wraps.
“It appears that senior United States Embassy officials in Albania approved of the efforts of the Albanian Defence Minister to conceal evidence of illegal shipments of Chinese ammunition that are now the subject of a criminal indictment,” the committee California Representative Henry Waxman wrote in a letter to Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice in June, seeking a probe into the embassy’s actions.
“I am gratified that the Department of Justice and the Department of State now consider the allegations against me and other officers closed,” said Withers in a statement.
“As I said last year, a fair examination of the evidence will lead, in the end, to the truth and I am pleased that the truth is now clear,” he added.
Four officials from AEY, a US-based arms firm accused of shady deals with Albanian officials in supplying the Afghan army, have been indicted on fraud charges.
Efraim Diveroli, AEY’s director, David Packouz, Alexander Podrizki and Ralph Merrill were indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami on wide-ranging fraud charges in connection to supplying ammunition to the Afghan army, announced R. Alexander Acosta, the US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida in June.
“The indictment alleges that the defendants submitted documents to the Army falsely attesting that the ammunition they provided was manufactured in Albania, when, in fact, the ammunition came from China,” said Acosta in a statement.
“To effectuate the scheme, defendants Diveroli, Packouz and Podrizki directed others to assist in the packaging of ammunition to be delivered to Afghanistan and provided instructions to remove Chinese markings from containers to conceal that the ammunition was manufactured in China,” the statement adds.
Indicted under 71 counts, if convicted the defendants could get lengthy jail terms if found guilty of all charges.
Albanian leaders are suspected of profiting from the murky arms deal with AEY whose contract with the US Army has been suspended.
The allegations implicate politicians as high as Prime Minister Sali Berisha and former Defence Minster Fatmir Mediu, with corruption.
The row erupted after the New York Times published an article on March 28 accusing Albanian officials of murky deals with the Miami-based Pentagon contractor. The company, had its contract with the US military revoked amid claims by the paper it was supplying decades-old ammunition to the Afghan army.
It is alleged Tirana and AEY used a third company, Cyprus-based Evdin Ltd, a company subcontracted by Albania’s arms trading giant, MEICO, to coordinate the deal between the Albanian military and AEY.
The New York Times alleges the head of MEICO, Ylli Pinari, doubled the real price of the munitions and pocketed the difference which was shared among Albanian politicians.
Berisha and Mediu have denied the charges.
“Such accusations should be used for toilet paper,” Berisha argued when questioned about the paper’s allegations in parliament.
Mediu has also denied any wrongdoing, arguing that the contracts were legal and certified by the Pentagon.
The row erupted after a deadly explosion in army depot on March 15, which left 26 people dead and more than 300 wounded.
Mediu has been charged with abuse of power and breaking tendering rules by Albania’s general prosecutor Ina Rama, over the depot explosion. Rama has also opened an investigation in the arms trafficking case.
The accusation against Withers came as a surprise in Tirana, where the American ambassador has led a strong campaign to the support the independence of the probe launched by prosecutor general Ina Rama.
He has also led a strong anti-corruption and press freedom campaign, receiving positive reviews from local commentators.
