Hi AllSundance denies knowing Congo minister claimsPublished...

Hi All

Sundance denies knowing Congo minister claims

Published 6:36 PM, 12 Nov 2010

AAP

Sundance Resources Ltd says it was unaware that a Congolese minister it has been closely dealing with is under investigation in France for alleged human rights abuses.

Republic of Congo Mines Minister Pierre Oba visited Perth this week on the invitation of four mining companies including Sundance, which is developing the Mbalam and Belinga projects straddling the Congo, Cameroon and Gabon in West Africa.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) spokesman said Mr Oba was the subject of a legal case in a local court in France in relation to an alleged massacre in the Republic of Congo in the late 1990s.

The case is also against the President of the Republic of Congo and other Congolese officials.

"Clearly these are serious allegations but the legal process in France has yet to conclude," the DFAT spokesman said in an emailed statement.

DFAT said it had asked Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship to issue Mr Oba a visa based on advice from French authorities that there was not a warrant for the minister's arrest and that he travelled regularly to France in a private capacity.

According to French authorities, Minister Oba is not and never has been subject to any arrest warrant and has never been brought before an investigating judge," the DFAT spokesman said.

An ABC report cited Sundance chairman George Jones as saying Mr Oba had left Australia.

Mr Jones could not be contacted for comment.

Mr Oba played a vital role in helping Sundance deal with the aftermath of a plane crash in Congo in June that took the lives of its entire board.

A Sundance spokesman said that Mr Oba and some of his technical staff had attended a briefing on the Mbalam project while in Perth.

"Sundance wasn't aware of the allegations beforehand," the spokesman said.

"Sundance has found him to be nothing other than completely courteous, highly educated and business-like.

"He has not been convicted of anything."

He said Sundance was not in a position to comment on the allegations.

The West Australian newspaper on Friday reported that Mr Oba had said he was not involved in the massacre and denied knowledge that any investigation had implicated him.

The report also said Mr Oba was to be the guest of honour at a breakfast for mining executives at a Perth hotel on Thursday but had pulled out, and that he had also visited Cape Lambert Resources Ltd, Elemental Minerals Ltd and Waratah Gold Ltd during the visit.


http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Sundance-denies-knowing-minister-claims-B593L?opendocument&src=rss

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