Relations between Angola and France remain troubled

The trial in Paris of 42 individuals accused of involvement in illegal arms deals to Angola is threatening to upset efforts by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to draw a line under more than a decade of troubled bilateral relations.

After a seven-year investigation, the trial of the 42 individuals accused of involvement in arms trafficking to Angola in the 1990s finally got underway. The so-called "Angolagate" scandal involved arms sales to Angola worth US$790m in 1993-2000, during that country’s civil war, by a French businessman, Pierre Falcone, and his Russian-born associate, Arcady Gaydamak, in which numerous French and Angolan officials allegedly received pay-offs and gifts worth US$56m. Both Mr Falcone and Mr Gaydamak deny any wrongdoing. ...