Canadian ex-PM admits mistakes over arms dealer
OTTAWA (AFP) — Former prime minister Brian Mulroney recognizes that he made a "colossal mistake" in taking 300,000 dollars in cash from an arms dealer now facing charges in Germany, his spokesman told a local newspaper Wednesday.
"This is the silliest thing he's ever done," Mulroney spokesman Luc Lavoie told the Ottawa Citizen, citing his boss.
The money deal is now the focus of a public inquiry, and a lawsuit by arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber, who is fighting extradition to Germany, to try to recover the funds.
Lavoie explained that Mulroney's savings had been depleted during his term as prime minister (1984-1993) and his government salary was nowhere near comparable to his former earnings as president of firm Iron Ore.
"So when he left (politics), he had no money. He was optimistic, he was going back to his old law firm, but there is a difference between optimistic and having the revenue," said Lavoie.
"So the man kind of, I wouldn't say 'anguished,' but worried about how the future would unfold," he said.
Last month, Schreiber prompted a furor in Ottawa with new revelations that Mulroney had accepted the cash payments from Schreiber's secret Zurich bank account at three hotel meetings in New York and Montreal.
Mulroney had arranged the money deal two days before he left office, and later tried to cover it up, Schreiber said.
Mulroney has denied any wrongdoing.
Lavoie told the Citizen that Schreiber had offered Mulroney cash in return for his help in establishing a light-armored vehicle factory for the European firm Thyssen AG, and promote Schreiber's burgeoning pasta business.
"Mr. Mulroney admits today that he made a colossal mistake. He should not have gone for it," Lavoie was quoted as saying.
Last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, under pressure from opposition parties who pointed to Harper's friendship with Mulroney, ordered a public inquiry into Schreiber's allegations.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) also reopened an investigation of Mulroney's dealings with the German-born businessman, and opposition parties are clamoring for Schreiber to be kept in Canada to testify at the public inquiry.
Schreiber himself has threatened to clam up if deported.
Germany alleges Schreiber evaded income taxes on 46 million dollars by hiding commissions he earned for negotiating the sale of helicopters, aircraft and armaments.
Prosecutors also allege he bribed Germany's then-defense minister, Ludwig Holger Pfahls, to help secure the sale of 36 army tanks by Thyssen AG to Saudi Arabia, and defrauded Saudi Arabia by siphoning off large commissions in the deal.
In 1995, the RCMP also accused Mulroney of accepting kickbacks from Schreiber for the purchase of Airbus jets for carrier Air Canada in 1988.
Mulroney subsequently sued the government for libel, and under oath, denied any illicit dealings with Schreiber. He received a government apology and a 2.1-million dollar settlement and the case was closed.
