well and good whitelight but are some of the comments in this...

well and good whitelight but are some of the comments in this article from the west different to what b t said on monday night!


Anvil denies being part of alleged Congo army killings

CATHY BOLT



The head of a Perth mining company accused of being involved in a massacre in the Democratic Republic of Congo said yesterday it had no choice but to provide vehicles and transport to the Congolese troops who carried out the alleged killings.

Anvil Mining's founder and chief executive, Bill Turner, said the company had no option but to comply with the army requests for access to its air services and vehicles to deal with a rebel uprising in Kilwa, a village 54km from its Dikulushi copper and silver mine.

"When the military comes to your doorstep and says we want your vehicles, you hand them over," Mr Turner told WestBusiness.

"There is no choice in the matter. They may ask quite nicely but the implication is, give us your vehicles or we will requisition them. That's just a fact of life in a place like that."

The company yesterday released a statement describing allegations it was complicit or implicated in the military action as deplorable and without foundation. It said it had no knowledge of it and was not involved in any way. Claims it had an improper relationship with Katumba Mwanke, a senior government official, were also baseless.

The ABC's Four Corners program this week reported Anvil had provided vehicles and air transport to about 100 Congolese Government troops to quell the relatively small uprising.

The report cited a United Nations report which found more than 100 people were killed, including at least 28 who may have been summarily executed. Class action law firm Slater & Gordon confirmed yesterday it had made a submission to the Australian Federal Police on behalf of human rights organisations asking it to investigate Anvil's involvement.

An AFP spokesman said it was evaluating it to determine whether it would investigate.

Slater & Gordon also revealed it was investigating possible legal action against Anvil by a number of Congolese citizens it said were victims of the violence.

Mr Turner said Anvil became aware a few days after the military activity at Kilwa that some people had been killed. But any allegation the company was involved was absolutely preposterous.

Asked whether the Congolese army's reputation for ferocity should have influenced its decision to provide it with vehicles and transport he said: "We didn't have a choice, you must understand that."

Mr Turner said such an environment made business challenging and uncomfortable but companies went to places like Congo because the resources were so attractive. He said Anvil worked to World Bank best practice standards, including allocating 10 per cent of profits from its Dikulushi mine to social and community development.

"Once you make a commitment to do something in a country like this you can't just walk away and tell your shareholders we made a mistake going in there, give us another couple of million dollars and we will go somewhere else," he said.

Anvil shares fell another 0.5¢ yesterday to 37.5¢ after Monday's 3¢ fall.

























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