[Firestarter]

Gerald James – arming Saddam

Gerald R. James, who was once chairman of ASTRA, filed a FOIA request on 1 June 2007 with some interesting information in this context. Including the bizarre claim that Stephanus Kock was “said to be” media mogul Robert Maxwell’s brother (which I don’t believe at all!).
There is another story that Stephanus Kock and Robert Maxwell were born in the same Czech village…

Inside sources said Kock was from Carpo Ruthenia via South Africa and Rhodesia and became a naturalised British citizen in 1968. He was said to be Robert Maxwell's brother and a former head of Group 13, the Government's dirty tricks and murder squad.
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The principal companies which Astra acquired under my Chairmanship were all long-established defence contractors, the founding dates varying from the Napoleonic Wars up to 1948. All had existing experienced management with longstanding relationships with their main customers, the US and UK governments, European, NATO and Commonwealth governments. Business with other governments in the Middle and Far East, Africa and South America, as well as the Eastern bloc was conducted through and with the full knowledge and help of the UK, US, Canadian and Belgian governments.
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There were also sub-contractors from companies like Allivane the CIA-MI6 front company (pages 516-529 and particularly pages 527-528). James Taylor (page 523) worked on our site at Sandwich on secondment from the MoD. I have copies of the Swedish customs report which led to the Dutch Economic Police Report into Muiden Chemie (pages 521-522). This Swedish customs report was into the propellant 'Cartel' which involved companies such as ICI/Nobel Industries of the UK, Muiden Chemie of Holland, PRB of Belgium, Astra of the UK, Royal Ordnance of the UK, Rio Tinto of Spain, Nobel/Bofors of Sweden and Raufoss of Norway. The cartel was set up to supply the huge amounts of propellant required to supply Iraq and Iran for their artillery in the eight year war 1981- 1988 and in furtherance of US/UK policy (pages 516-529). After other acquisitions such as Walters Group in the USA (Walters Inc and Accudyne), BMARC in the UK, Kilgore in the USA and PRB in Belgium, it became clear that there was a vast underlying traffic of weapons and ammunition and fuses involving these companies.
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Kock was at the centre of a huge organisation involving the whole defence establishment and companies such as Allivane, Astra, Polly Peck, Ferranti/ISC, Maxwell, BCCI (which were all deliberately collapsed) and 150 various front companies at the centre of the secret US/UK policy. Other companies deliberately collapsed included SRC of Belgium, Matrix Churchill, Ordtec, Euromac, Atlantic Commercial in the UK. It was disconcerting and alarming to discover that not only were Astra's bankers, Midland and Bank of Boston, and consortium banks such as the Bank of Nova Scotia part of the UK and US governments' tools in furthering policy but also that our lawyers, Baileys Shaw & Gillett, and accountants, Stoy Hayward, were implicated.
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Main personnel at Societe Generale de Belgique ('SGB'), the vendors of PRB to Astra such as former EC Commissioner Davignon, the SGB Chairman and the SGB Managing Director, Herve de Carmoy, formerly senior foreign director of Midland Bank and a close associate of Kock, as well as Jean Duronsoy, the negotiator of the PRB sale to Astra were leaned on by the UK and Belgian governments from a high level and panicked.
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He approached us again in March 1990 through our Austrian agent, Cranz, and Chris Gumbley. He met Gumbley on 22nd March 1990 for a whole day with Cranz and his lawyers and told him he wanted me to return the next week with documents to help his case against HMG and senior civil servants which he had already launched. Bull was particularly concerned about corruption and the fact he had offered more for PRB than Astra. He also seemed to know we would all be set up. An hour after Gumbley left him he was shot.

http://shellnews.net/PDFs/GeraldJamesSta...ne2007.pdf