U.S. Department of Justice documents show that Ari Ben Menashe "will help present the true picture of the country" • Did he know what was going on there before the contract was signed?
Myanmar Army Soldiers
Photo:
IPI
The military junta in Myanmar has hired the services of Israeli-Canadian lobbyist Ari Ben Menashe, according to documents from the US Department of Justice, which were obtained by the AFP news agency.
According to the report, Ben Menashe will pocket no less than two million dollars in exchange for his services.
Since the military coup in the country, no less than 2,000 people have been arrested and about 60 killed.
Ben Menashe apparently knew what was happening in the country before signing the contract, since according to the report, the contract with his company "Dickens & Madson" closed on March 4 - more than a month since the date of the coup.
Under the contract, the company will work to advance the interests of the military junta in Israel, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Nations, and international organizations and various countries.
"Assistance in presenting the true situation in the country," is one of the clauses that Ben Menashe reportedly signed.
Ben Menashe was born in Tehran on December 4, 1951 and immigrated to Israel with his family when he was a teenager.
He presents himself as a graduate of the Israeli intelligence community, who greatly assisted the country during the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Myanmar: Police open fire on protesters // Archive photo: Reuters
However, the report today is not the first negative publicity about him.
In November 1989, he was arrested in the United States on suspicion of attempting to sell three Hercules aircraft to the Ayatollah regime.