Russia offered Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker to BAF
Su-27/30 series is better than any inferior F-16A/C and JF-17
Russia offered Bangladesh Air Force Su-27 instead we purchased F-7BGs
Govt accused of corruption in F-7 procurement deal
Syed Iskandar walks out of JS panel meeting over defence deal row
Ofiul Hasnat Ruhin
A lawmaker of the ruling BNP stormed out of the meeting of a parliamentary standing committee on Monday, as opposition legislators accused the government of corruption in a defence purchase deal and alleged that a third party had taken undue commission from the deal.
Syed Iskandar, who happens to be the younger brother of the prime minister, was enraged when the chairman of the committee, Mahbubur Rahman, allowed Shawkat Ali of the Awami League to raise questions about the purchase of 16 Chinese F-7 fighters for the Bangladesh Air Force at a cost of $117.9 million, meeting sources said.
He told Mahbub that he had violated the meeting procedures by allowing discussion on the deal, which was not on the agenda.
We can have discussion on every matter, Mahbub was quoted by the sources as telling Iskandar.
Iskandar left the meeting as soon as the discussion on the deal ended, although the meeting had the proposed defence policy and the budget for the armed forces in the next fiscal year on the agenda.
Mahbub confirmed that a member of the committee had asked him why an unscheduled issue was raised for discussion. He wouldnt, however, name the lawmaker.
I told him the issue could be discussed although it had not been included in the agenda, he said when talking to New Age. The issue was raised following a clarification by the air chief about the purchase.
Shawkat Ali demanded that a parliamentary subcommittee should be formed to investigate allegations of corruption against the government in the purchase of the F-7s.
Mahbub did not form any committee but assured AL members that a committee would be formed if there was any specific allegation about the purchase, the sources said.
Shawkat Ali also raised questions about transparency in the state-to-state agreement on the purchase and alleged that a lawmaker, indicating Iskandar, had been provided with the opportunity to receive commission from both the Bangladesh and Chinese sides as the third party in the deal.
The fighters could have been purchased at a lower price had the government floated an international tender, he was quoted by the sources as saying. It is not clear why the authorities did not invite international tender despite floating a budgetary tender earlier.
Shawkat Ali confirmed later that he had requested the chairman to form a parliamentary subcommittee to investigate the alleged irregularities and go to China for investigation, if necessary.
He added that the strong protest by the BNP lawmaker hinted at his involvement in the irregularities.
If the committee is serious about tracing the invisible third party in the deal, the involvement of the lawmaker would become clear, Shawkat Ali claimed.
Altaf Hossain Chowdhury dismissed the allegation about the involvement of a third party but fellow BNP lawmaker, Quamrul Islam, also the state minister for expatriates welfare and overseas employment, wondered why the fighters had been bought from China instead of any European country, the sources said.
The debate began after the chief of air staff, Air-vice-marshal Fakrul Azam, sought apology for providing inconsistent information about the procurement procedure at the previous meeting of the committee and attempted to clarify the inconsistencies.
He claimed that the government had to undertake the purchase scheme as 16 fighters of the Bangladesh Air Force had overshot their longevity in 1990.
He said the government had taken the decision to procure the F-7s after comparing the offer with an offer for Russian Su-27.
The price of the Russian fighters was four times that of the Chinese fighters, he said.
The F-7s are also fit for the infrastructure establishment and training experience of the Bangladesh Air Force, the air chief argued.
The meeting endorsed the government decision to form a three-dimensional navy through procuring submarine and other equipment and recommended immediate enactment of a national defence policy, reduction of misuse of defence fund, increase in budgetary allocation for development of defence and protection of the maritime boundary at any cost.
The authorities concerned informed that committee that the government would purchase a submarine soon and the navy had already started training in this regard.
They also informed that the preparation of a draft defence policy was in final stage, the meeting sources said.
http://www.newagebd.com/2006/may/16/front.html