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The Prince, The Brutal Dictator And A Friendship He Just Won't Give

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  • The Prince, The Brutal Dictator And A Friendship He Just Won't Give

    THE PRINCE, THE BRUTAL DICTATOR AND A FRIENDSHIP HE JUST WON'T GIVE UP

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-prince-the-brutal-dictator-and-a-friendship-he-just-wont-give-up-8270022.html
    Thursday 01 November 2012

    Duke of York continues to request briefings on Azerbaijan despite
    losing his trade role

    Tom Peck

    His lavish spending of taxpayers' money on private jets, not to
    mention his numerous uncomfortable friendships with questionable
    world leaders and a convicted paedophile, forced Prince Andrew to
    step down as the UK's Special Representative for Trade and Investment,
    amid claims that he had become an embarrassment to the Government.

    But now, more than a year later, the Duke continues to take an interest
    in the affairs of Azerbaijan, where he is friends with President
    Ilham Aliyev, regarded as one of the most brutal and corrupt rulers
    in the world. He has held talks at Buckingham Palace with the UK's
    Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Peter Bateman. It is understood that the
    Prince requested he be kept informed about developments in the country,
    and Mr Bateman asked for a meeting with him when the ambassador was
    in Britain last week.

    As is customary, the nature of the discussions will not be made public,
    but a Palace spokesperson confirmed that, while the Duke no longer
    has an official role in promoting British business, he is "of course,
    still interested in British business; especially small and medium-sized
    enterprises, science and technology and research and development."

    Critics of the Azerbaijani regime, of which there are many, hope
    that matters besides business were discussed. "We can only hope
    that Prince Andrew, who no longer has an official role in promoting
    trade, is instead using these 'private' talks at Buckingham Palace to
    persuade the ambassador to raise serious concerns about the numerous
    human rights abuses in Azerbaijan," said Natalia Nozadze, Azerbaijan
    Researcher for Amnesty International.

    "These include the routine use of excessive and brutal force by police,
    restrictions on public protest and the censorship imposed on bloggers
    and journalists who are beaten and imprisoned for criticising the
    government," she said.

    Prince Andrew has visited President Aliyev eight times in the last five
    years. According to Buckingham Palace sources, all of his dealings
    in recent years with Azerbaijan and with other states questionable
    human rights records have been on behalf of the UK government, which
    has requested that he go there. But two of his visits to Azerbaijan
    have been designated as "entirely private".

    In March last year, a former ambassador wrote to three government
    departments demanding that Prince Andrew be stripped of his role,
    citing among other things a "worrying" private meeting with Libyan
    tyrant Colonel Gaddafi in 2008.

    He also entertained the son-in-law of the ousted Tunisian president,
    Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, at Buckingham Palace. The lavish nature
    of such trips has also been fiercely criticised. One of his visits
    to Azerbaijan involved the hiring of a private jet, at the cost of
    £60,000 to the taxpayer.

    News reports in Azerbaijan have long speculated that the Duke has his
    own business interests in the region, including a golf resort on the
    Caspian Sea, a claim that Buckingham Palace denies. A Foreign Office
    spokesperson said: "It is not uncommon for our heads of mission to
    meet with members of the royal family."

    It is not the first time the Prince has met Mr Bateman, and the
    meeting was published in Court Circular.

    The Palace said that while the Duke no longer has an official title,
    he has not lost interest in the country, in which he showed particular
    interest duing his time as trade ambassador. He also continues to
    play in "an informal role in boosting trade between the two countries."

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