Azeri Lobby Has Been Bought For $ 600,000

[MosJan]

AZERI LOBBY HAS BEEN BOUGHT FOR $ 600,000

American journalist Ken Silverstein, the Head of Harper's Magazine Washington editorial decided to test Azeri and Vietnam lobby acting in the U. S. He presented to be Turkmenistan's British emissary and requested that lobbyist groups Apco worldwide and Cassidy associates improve the country's image before Bush administration and Congress. The lobbies did not refuse the proposal, asking $ 600, 000 and $ 500, 000 correspondingly. It created a scandal connected with moral in American policy and lobbyist circles. Strange as it may seem, the Azeri lobby accused Silverstein of ''lack of ethics''. Really, Silverstein was dishonest. He acquired British mobile phones, visit cards on the name of Kenneth Case with a prestigious address in London and introduced himself as a head of Maldon Company in London. Silverstein explained the Azeri lobby that Maldon invested in oil and gas in the Caspian region and, in part, in deliveries from Turkmenistan to Ukraine. It is not difficult to imagine the lobbyists' avid eyes, so answering Silverstein's question ''what should be done for the country to be positively perceived in U. S., how much will it cost?'' they asked such an impressive price. Despite lack of information about Maldon, both lobbies yielded to provocation. The journalist told about his meetings with lobby. In Arco ''a rich client'' was received, among others, by vice president Barrie Schumacher, Jennifer Millerwise, former CIA worker and Elizabeth Jones, former Ambassador to Kazakhstan (even they suspected nothing). ''They presented me an advertisement project devoted to what they called the best period of Turkmenistan since gaining its independence'', Silverstein stated. ''They said they were initiating a trip of MPs, scientists and journalists to the former Soviet Republic and preparing a conference ''Energetic Security, or Caspian region's gas pipelines''. In Cassidy associates the situation developed by the analogous scenario. Writing all the talks on his Dictaphone, ''Kenneth Case'' disappeared to describe the story in his journal. IAA DE FACTO