Fraud chief: this is Saudi blackmail

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THE head of the Serious Fraud Office has said he agrees with the view that ministers succumbed to “blackmail” by the Saudi government by dropping the criminal inquiry into allegations of corruption involving its royal family.

Robert Wardle, the SFO’s respected director, said his inquiry into a £60m slush fund run by BAE Systems was scrapped in the face of “obvious pressure” from the Saudis, who had threatened to ditch a £10 billion arms deal and sever diplomatic and intelligence ties.

Wardle said he felt “further investigation was justified”, effectively undermining claims by No 10 and his boss Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general. Asked if the Saudi pressure amounted to blackmail, he replied: “Of course it is . . . I think if that (inquiry) happened the Saudis simply weren’t going to have anything to do with us. Call it blackmail, call it what you will.”

The move to end the criminal investigation was announced by Goldsmith last week. Opposition MPs and pressure groups said Britain was behaving like a “banana republic” in caving in, and campaign groups are taking legal advice about seeking a judicial review.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2508464,00.html