(LA TIMES) Abramoff Offered to Aid Sudan, Envoy Says

[laststeamtrain]

Abramoff Offered to Aid Sudan, Envoy Says
The former lobbyist sought millions to help the sanctioned nation clean up its image, the country's ambassador and an ex-associate say.

WASHINGTON — Two eyewitnesses say that former lobbyist Jack Abramoff proposed to sell his services to the much-criticized government of Sudan to help improve its abysmal reputation in the United States, especially among Christian evangelicals who were campaigning against human rights violations in the troubled African nation.

Khidir Haroun Ahmed, Sudan's ambassador to the United States, said in an interview that Abramoff proposed a multimillion-dollar lobbying contract in late 2001 but that the proposal was "never seriously considered" by the Sudanese. He declined to elaborate.

The story Ahmed and a former Abramoff associate tell about the solicitation of Sudan, which the U.S. had sanctioned for its record on terrorism and rights violations, is a striking example of the kind of aggressive machinations of Abramoff as spelled out in the criminal cases against him. The super-lobbyist made tens of millions of dollars representing — and sometimes defrauding — corporations, foreign clients and American Indian gambling interests.

<snip>

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-sudan4apr04,1,5314513.story?coll=la-news-politics-national&ctrack=1&cset=true