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WASHINGTON U-TURN: Aiyaz Khaiyum signs US$50million loan facility approved by World Bank in Washington; in 2007 the US government had revoked his 10-year VISA, with Dinger accusing him of lying on Visa Form

17/4/2016

15 Comments

 
From Fijileaks Archive
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Making misrepresentations on an application for immigration benefits is a ground of inadmissibility under U.S. immigration law. So, on what grounds was Khaiyum allowed to enter the United States to sign loan agreements with the World Bank?
The former ambassador Larry Dinger's cable (Wikileaks) clearly state Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum LIED on his Visa Application in 2008

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Interim AG goes public with UN visa-denial complaint
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1. (U) Fiji's interim Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum phoned Suva media from Vienna on Friday, May 9, to make public his unhappiness at Embassy Suva having denied him a visa to transit Los Angeles to and from a U.N conference in Vienna. He also complained that the U.S. denial came at "the eleventh hour." Sayed-Khaiyum said the interim government (IG) is filing a complaint with the UN in New York. We provide background.

The actual story
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2. (SBU) Embassy Suva received a dipnote from Fiji MFA on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 30, seeking transit visas of LA for May 6 and 9/10 to facilitate Sayed-Khaiyum's attendance at a meeting in Vienna of the Expanded Pilot Review Group on the implementation of the UN Convention Against Corruption. The same afternoon, we informed EAP/ANP of the request and sought Washington's response, given that Sayed-Khaiyum is on the Fiji post-coup visa-sanction list.

(Note: The USG revoked Sayed-Khaiyum's 10-year visa in early 2007, notifying him by phone and letter. Interestingly, on the transit-visa application, Sayed-Khaiyum checked the box indicating he had never had a U.S. visa revoked.)

On the morning of Friday, May 2, EAP/ANP provided Washington's response to deny the visa. We immediately phoned MFA and followed up with a dipnote, delivered the same day. On Monday, May 5, Sayed-Khaiyum phoned the Embassy and had a polite conversation with DCM Mann, who confirmed the USG denial of the transit-visa request.

U.S. policy re UN-related visa requests
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3. (SBU) To the best of our knowledge, USG policy on UN-related visas for those on the Fiji visa-sanction list is to allow an exception in those cases where travel is to New York or elsewhere in the U.S. for UN business, acknowledging a U.S. obligation under the UN headquarters agreement. Similarly, the USG has permitted travel to Washington for World Bank/IMF meetings. In Sayed-Khaiyum's case, the meeting was not in the U.S. but in Vienna; and, as he has demonstrated, he had an alternative route to get there: via Seoul.

Media coverage and reactions
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4. (SBU) Fiji media have given Sayed-Khaiyum's public complaint reasonable coverage. Over the weekend, Embassy Suva responded to media requests for comment by noting that USG visa sanctions on interim government ministers remain in place.

We have not yet commented on the UN angle, though we did so in the past in relation to interim PM Bainimarama's attendance at the UNGA last September.

From what we hear, Sayed-Khaiyum's revelation that the USG denied the visa has given heart to a number of opponents of the IG, who rightly perceive Sayed-Khaiyum to be one of the IG's most outspoken defenders of restraints on human-rights.

Such restraints have included deportation of media publishers and, for some Fiji citizens, restraints on travel abroad. One blog noted over the weekend that last year the IG (Sayed-Khaiyum) refused to permit travel by a Fiji-citizen employee of the UN's Suva office to a UN conference in Tonga.

DINGER

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CONFIRMED VISA LIAR signing loan agreements with World Bank in Washington
By DEPTFO NEWS, April 2016

Fiji has formally signed the US$50 million loan facility approved by the World Bank 16 months ago for improvements to the nation’s transport and infrastructure.


The signing ceremony took place in Washington during the current visit to the US by the Attorney General and Minister for Finance, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, who is attending the 2016 Spring Meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The facility – which was approved in December 2014 – is Fiji’s first from the World Bank for 23 years.

“This is a very significant day for Fiji”, the AG said after the signing ceremony.  “Not only do we enjoy the confidence of the World Bank and IMF for our prudent economic management but with this facility, we now have more than $102 million Fijian at the current exchange rate to dedicate to improving Fiji’s infrastructure and the performance of our economy as a whole”.

At a meeting with the AG after the signing ceremony, Fiji was praised by the new World Bank Vice President for the East Asia Pacific Region, Ms Victoria Kwakwa, for what she described as the innovative rehabilitation measures being implemented in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Winston.

She emphasises the importance of Fiji strengthening its resilience against climate change as part of its long term growth strategy, as well as pursuing appropriate macroeconomic and social policies.

Vice President Kwakwa welcomed the World Bank’s reengagement with Fiji and expressed its willingness to support Fiji’s effort to strengthen its position as a Pacific hub for the economic benefit of the region as a whole.
She said the World Bank was committed to having a strong presence in Fiji and providing it with technical assistance, advisory support, and, if necessary, the provision of further facilities for social protection and development purposes.For his part, the AG thanked the World Bank on behalf of the Fijian Government for its assistance and support. He went on to provide a detailed briefing on areas of potential engagement, including disaster rehabilitation, strengthening climate change adaptation measures, building a resilient economy, improving the effectiveness of social protection programs, assisting in the divestment of state owned enterprises and developing fibre optic capability in Vanua Levu.

The AG updated Vice President Kwaka and her executive team on the rehabilitation and rebuilding effort in the wake of Cyclone Winston and outlined Fiji’s long-term strategy to strengthen its resilience to the impact of climate change.

He also repeated his call for changes to the present arrangements for funding climate change adaptation, which he said were impeding the ability of small and island states to gain access to concessional financing. 
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In a normal democracy, Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum would have been disbarred  for engaging in conducts which were dishonest and discreditable to a lawyer, engaging in conducts prejudicial to the administration of justice, and diminishing public confidence in
the legal profession

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http://www.fijileaks.com/home/milgate-file-aiyaz-sayed-khaiyum-owns-99-of-100-shares-in-midlife-investments-ltd-so-effectively-he-owns-99-of-the-asset-ficac-wrong-to-rule-he-owned-nominal-interest-in-mil-declaration-reeks-of-criminality

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15 Comments
Rajend Naidu
17/4/2016 11:03:33 am

Editor,
Responding to the Panama Paper leaks on how the super rich were hiding money in offshore tax heavens the IMF chief Christine Lagarde said it was time to "think outside the box" on global tax ( ' the guardian 12/04).
But critics have been saying that long time back. For instance Susan George one of the most fierce critics of the orthodoxies of the World Bank and the IMF wrote about this in her book Faith and Credit : The World Banks Secular Empire (1994) co- authored with Fabrizio Sabelli.
They " examine the Bank's policies, its internal culture, and the interests it serves. They reveal a supranational, non democratic, and extremely powerful institution that functions much like the medieval church or a monolithic political party, relying on rigid doctrine, hierarchy, and a rejection of dissenting ideas to perpetuate its influence. It's faith in orthodox economics, the idea of perpetual growth, and the capacity of the market to solve development problems is incompatible with its professed goals of helping the poor and protecting the environment. Faced with these contradictions, the Bank is increasingly struggling to reconcile the roles of commercial lender, policy maker , and great humanitarian " ( good read book review).
The critique of the Bank ( both the Banks) remain as valid today as when it was originally made. There has been no real thinking outside the box. Vested interest saw to that.
This is why we still have a world where so few have so much and so many languish in poverty and misery.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
Kumar
17/4/2016 07:37:37 pm

Khaiyum lied on his visa application form. He got a visa to go to the US. Khaiyum is all powerful and mighty. If US would have denied him visa, US would have been in grave problem. Same when any businessmen denies Khaiyum the gifts he seeks - he is then finished.

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Rajend Naidu
17/4/2016 09:18:51 pm

Editor,
US Visa.
We read in ' These Are The 10 Highest Ranking Passports In The World In 2016' that " Australia has featured in the list of the most highest ranking passports in the world when it comes to visa access"
( GQ Australia 7/03/16).
But of course this is not true for all Australian passport. I have been denied visa access to America although I have an Australian passport( it was denied also when I had a Fijian passport).
But one thing I am proud of is that I NEVER LIED about anything when my visa was denied.
I have informed American officaldom, right up to President Barack Obama's office, that I have no criminal history nor am I a terrorist nor do I have any association with any terrorist group. I have been and remain a steadfast defender of democracy.
My visa remains rejected because unlike Aiyaz I am an ordinary citizen with no political power.
Mine is the power of the pen!
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
Immigration Officer
17/4/2016 09:35:30 pm

Rajen, sorry to hear your case.

Why are you not allowed to enter the United States?

Please, can you do us all a favour - can you write to the US Immigration authorities and President Obama and ask them to explain why this habitual LIAR was allowed into the United States when it is clear as daylight that he lied in his VISA application form.

Surely, the US Embassy in Fiji MUST have a copy of his form, and the copy of the letter which former ambassador Larry Dinger mentions in his embassy cable to Washington

Vinaka

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Chiku
17/4/2016 11:27:53 pm

Just remember in the world we live in shit happens - all kinds of shit happens.
If the US can ban the world's greatest comedian Charlie Chaplin from setting foot in America because it suspected him having communist links then the US of A can ban any ordinary citizen from any country any time.

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Pita
17/4/2016 10:52:56 pm

First a $500 million Fiji Govt bond re-issue, that included a $200 million new bond float, approved 4 months ago at an emergency issue of the Fiji Parliament and incurring a 9% annual compound interest rate. Now this $102 million World Bank loan for infrastructure. When will all this borrowing stop? How will we repay it? It looks like lucrative state assets like the FEA and AFL will have to be sold to pay off this mounting debt

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jml
18/4/2016 08:06:14 am

A former USA Ambassador to Fiji had this to say about his job "All we do is shake hands and kiss asses". Look who got to have his a.... kissed and he is very good at it too. He is honing it to a fine art now.. Amongst the kisses are 31 members called honourable who can not do without him.

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Aj
18/4/2016 11:02:48 am

Is there anywhere in the world where all Ministers in the cabinet are required to call the AG, "Sir"? Fiji is the first place, getting a place in Guiness Book of Records. Al ministers must call Khaiyum Sir!

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Still Waiting for Naidu
18/4/2016 08:14:02 am

Rajend Naidu, bhai,

We are still waiting for your reply to Immigration Officer

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Rajend Naidu
22/4/2016 02:06:53 am

Read Nick Turse article ' How A Simple Request Got Me Blacklisted By The Pentagon' in The Intercept April 21,2016. It will throw light on what people are up against when dealing with that mob...

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USPgate kaha
18/4/2016 08:21:36 am

Victor is USPgate coming or flase alarm??

https://narseyonfiji.wordpress.com/2016/04/16/the-open-censorship-of-one-the-hidden-censorship-of-many-edited-version-in-the-fiji-times-16-april-2016/

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LIERS EVERYWHERE
18/4/2016 09:35:46 am

Khaiyum's LIES are diminutive when comparing with 9/11 cover up and conspiracy for the TWIN Towers. Notwithstanding the 3rd building was seen standing right behind the reporter seen live on TV when the news update was run that the building had collapsed.

Khaiyum's lies are a 'small change' when comparing to Saudi involvement in USA bombing scam that in turn took out Sadam and Iraq!

Reply
Pita
18/4/2016 11:21:33 am

The George Speight 2001 take-over of Parliament was Fiji's 9/11. Both were hatched by powerful military and business interests for the purpose of creating fear through chaos in order to create a public enemy, cover up crimes and misappropriations and to justify a fascist government and expansion of the military.

Reply
Correction!
18/4/2016 10:35:41 pm

Speight's takeover was in 2000, done and dusted. It was then Qarase's take over of Parliament firstly by appealing CP judgement and secondly taking over Parliament with CAMV. Both were indeed Fiji's version of 9/11.

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Rajend Naidu
21/4/2016 01:30:41 am

Editor,
War Criminal Visits the US
We learn from EIN Presswire 19/04 that two Tamil groups in the US have appealed to President Obama for the US to arrest former Sri Lankan Defense Secretary currently visiting the US.
Gotabaya Rajapakse is one of the main architects along with the former President and the current one who were responsible for the large scale slaughter of Tamils and the rape of Taml women. According to UN internal review report around 70,000 Tamils were killed in six months in early 2009 and the abuses committed by the Sri Lankan forces amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Some international legal experts believe that there are elements of these abuses that could amount to Genocide.
" US should not miss the opportunity to arrest and prosecute one of the main war criminals in recent times visiting the US. Failure to do so would encourage others to commit abuses amounting to war crimes" the two organisations said.
The UN HRC led by the US last year passed a Sri Lankan resolution to hold a credible investigation to punish those responsible for the killings. The U S should take the same leadership it took at the UN to initiate investigation for the visiting war criminal.
Guess what?
I don't think that will happen. There is often that mismatch between what is preached in flowery language and what actually happens in practice.
And we talking about a small fry like Aiyaz Khaiyum visiting the US!
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

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