Greed Is Global

11:25 19/12/2010 - Πηγή: i-Reporter

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON, JOSHUA E. KEATING

It's a dirty world. From the diamond mines of Zimbabwe to the government coffers of Pakistan, U.S. diplomats run into corruption everywhere they go. We slogged through the muck and grime of the WikiLeaked cables to find the most egregious reports of official

thievery:

Imported Gains

Country: Nigeria

Transparency International Corruption ranking: 134 of 178 countries

The Deal: There is, no doubt, more than one way to smuggle contraband into Nigeria. But if you're in the presidential palace, things get more complicated. That's apparently one reason that former Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua stayed close to Dahiru Mangal, a businessman from his home state of Katsina. In a 2008 cable, a "longtime mission contact" tells the embassy that Mangal is "Yar'Adua's ‘go-to man' to accomplish ‘anything filthy that Yar'Adua needs done' ... and also the ‘go-to' for any wealthy Nigerian, who wants to imp