be rejected. “We then need to be able to rapidly respond to the rejection of this offer by the opposition and all that will come, protests and the like, in the days thereafter,” the strategy document states.
It advises on the “key lines” to take during the talks and adds: “We need to have a strong story coming out from the talks each day to demonstrate the momentum. This story will need to be prepped in advance every night.”
Guinea, despite being rich in minerals, has been dogged by years of misrule, but the election of Mr Conde in 2010 — the first properly democratic elections for some years — brought hope the West African country could enjoy stability and growth.
Mr Conde, 77, a political science professor who had spent decades in opposition, had been viewed as a reformer and is still seen in the international community as Guinea’s best hope.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) praised Mr Conde for addressing governance and human rights problems. But its review, covering 2013, said security forces had been “implicated in numerous incidents of excessive use of lethal force and unprofessional conduct as they responded to the violent clashes between militants of opposing political parties”. HRW added that the election, which took place in September and which was won by Mr Conde’s RPG party, was marred by irregularities.
An AGI spokesman said it was working in Guinea “to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives”. Referring to the 2013 document, he said: “We advised the government on how to calm the situation to reduce the risk of violence and to get the delayed elections to happen. This is categorically not ‘big P’ political advice, it’s about the elections taking place peacefully, not who would win those elections. Guinea is a new democracy and the peaceful running of its elections was priority for the entire international community.” WHERE TONY Blair leads, Cherie follows.
Mrs Blair has picked up a lucrative legal contract with the Albanian government, a little over a year after her husband began acting as its official adviser.
Her law firm, Omnia Strategy, has been appointed to act on behalf of Albania in a £250million legal dispute. Mr Blair is an official adviser to the government, prompting calls by opposition MPs for more transparency in the country’s dealings with the Blairs.
The deal in Albania follows the award of a contract to Mrs Blair by the Kazakhstan government, where her husband is also an official, paid adviser to the country’s autocratic president Nursultan Nazarbayev.
It is not clear how much Mrs Blair is being paid, but if it is anything like as lucrative as the Kazakh deal, she will be delighted.
Omnia Strategy, as previously disclosed by The Sunday Telegraph, was paid almost £400,000 for six months’ work in Kazakhstan for reviewing its “bilateral investment treaties”. Mrs Blair, best known as a human rights lawyer, charged the Kazakh government £975 an hour for her fees. She normally charges £1,150 an hour, but offered her services to the Kazakh taxpayer at a reduced rate.
The legal dispute in Albania follows a decision by the new socialist government to rip up a £250million contract with a US company to construct and operate special scanners along its international borders.
Rapiscan Systems, based in Redhill, Surrey, won the 15- year contract in April 2013 in an attempt by Albania to tighten up its borders and crack down on drugs, tobacco and weapons smuggling, as well as people trafficking. Albania hopes to join the European Union and needs to put in place tougher border controls to do so.
But the contract was scrapped after the election of Edi Rama as prime minister, in Sept 2013. Mr Rama, a friend of Mr Blair, then appointed him as official adviser. The arrangement had been put in place in talks in London between the two men Blair recently quit as a human rights barrister at Matrix Chambers in part to focus on her work with Omnia, which she set up in 2011.
The award of the contract to Mrs Blair has raised concerns in Albania with Mr Blair so close to the heart of government. Genc Pollo, a senior MP with the opposition Democratic party and a former minister, said: “Tony Blair… is a respected figure in Albania especially for his role in the Kosovo intervention. But the current dealings of the Rama government… are concerning
Cherie Blair and Rezart Taci open his TV station in Tirana, Albania
held before the election.
Mr Blair is a hugely popular figure in Albania over his intervention in neighbouring Kosovo, home to ethnic Albanians, which was fighting a war of independence from the former Yugoslavia.
Rapiscan began legal action against Albania last August, suing the country for £250million in a case being taken to the International Chamber of Commerce in Vienna.
Albania then sought a legal firm to fight its case and, after a tendering process begun in October last year, awarded the legal work to Omnia. Mrs because of a lack of transparency and the not very obvious benefit to Albania.”
Florjon Mima, another Democratic party MP and former minister, said: “I am deeply surprised that the firm of the spouse of the former British Prime Minister Blair has been awarded a contract to render legal services representing the Albanian government, while… her husband is publicly recognised as an adviser to the Albanian Government and a personal friend to the Albanian Prime Minister.”
This is not the first time Omnia Strategy has been employed by Tirana. It was awarded a contract worth £300,000 at the end of 2012 to advise the previous Albanian government in a billion dollar oil dispute with an American energy firm. Albania’s legal costs in that case were a little over $500,000 (£300,000). It is not clear how much of the total costs were owed to Omnia Strategy for its work.
Mrs Blair is thought to have first visited Albania in 2010 as the guest of Liri Berisha, the wife of the prime minister at the time, Sali Berisha. Mrs Blair and Mrs Berisha became friends when her husband was still in Downing Street. Mrs Blair flew to the impoverished country in a private jet owned by Rezart Taci, a controversial oil tycoon, and one of Albania’s richest men.
Albania is just one of a number of countries advised by Mr Blair, through his company, Tony Blair Associates, which he set up on leaving Downing Street in 2007. Mr Blair has lucrative deals with Kazakhstan, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and Mongolia among others.
Mr Blair has insisted the Albanian taxpayer does not fund his team based in Tirana, although it is not clear who exactly is paying for the advisers on the ground, among them the nephew of Alastair Campbell, Mr Blair’s former spin doctor.
Julia Yun Hulme, Omnia’s managing director, refused to say what the latest legal contract was worth to the company. She also declined to say if Omnia had won contracts in any other countries advised by Mr Blair. She said in a statement: “Omnia Strategy LLP is a law firm regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Mr Blair is not involved with Omnia Strategy LLP.” Rapiscan declined to comment.