Angola to probe graft, may charge officials

By Henrique Almeida

LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola will carry out a rare investigation into the illegal transfer of government funds abroad and will name any Treasury and Finance Ministry officials who face charges as a result, a prosecutor said on Friday.

The deputy chief prosecutor, Domingos Baxe, said details of sums illegally transferred abroad would be made public and the attorney general could press charges against those suspected of responsibility for "illicit and fraudulent acts".

The aim was to complete the probe in 45 days, Bax said. "We want this process to end as soon as possible so that citizens can be informed about the investigation," the state-owned news agency Angop's website www.angop.ao quoted him as saying.

It is very rare for government officials to be prosecuted for corruption in Angola, which was ranked among the 18 most graft-ridden countries in the world in the 2009 index of the global corruption watchdog Transparency International.

Analysts praised the investigation as a step forward in the oil-producing southern African country's struggle to end what they say is its biggest challenge since the end of the three-decade civil war in 2002.

"This is not the first time the prosecutor has investigated corruption. The problem is most of these investigations that involve government figures never go anywhere," said Fernando Macedo, a law professor at Lusiada University in Luanda.

"We hope that this time those responsible will be brought to justice."

The attorney general's office said on Monday that Treasury and Finance Ministry officials had illegally transferred funds abroad, but gave no details.