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| Europe |
| Muslim group wants Cadbury boycott |
| 2004-06-27 |
| British Muslims are calling for a boycott of chocolate giant Cadbury because of alleged links with the American firm accused of torturing prisoners in Iraq. The UK Islamic Mission made the shock plea as the Bournville-based company has previously employed business advisers CACI Ltd. The firm, which has offices in Coventry, is a subsidiary of US firm CACI International, which was hired by the CIA and coordinated interrogations at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. Iraqi inmates at the prison were stripped, chained, sexually humiliated and threatened with electrocution by US guards.There have also been allegations of rape and murder. Last night, Haq Ghani, of the UK Islamic Mission, called for a boycott of up to 40 UK firms, including Cadbury, who have links with CACI Ltd. âIt is very concerning that a notorious organisation such as CACI is involved in any way with household names and companies which the Muslim community use,âhe said. âMany Muslims will boycott these organisations and take peaceful action to protest, such as picketing their headquarters. There should be a boycott of any organisation which works with a company involved in state terrorism. I would call on people who oppose the war on Iraq to boycott these firms.â But a spokesman for Cadbury said the company was no longer using the services of CACI Ltd. He said:âI believe that the firm did offer us some advice to assist the process of integrating our retail sales force with that of Trebor Bassett. But that was three or four years ago and we have not used their services since.â But the Sunday Mercury discovered more recent links between Cadbury and the firm. On March 4, Rafik Chafekar, sales operations Manager at Cadbury, was a guest speaker at a CACI conference in Buckinghamshire. The seminar was also attended by other company clients including Honda, Renault, Barclays, Scottish Widows, AXA Direct, Friends Provident, House of Fraser, The Woolwich, Unilever, Danone, WH Smith, the Royal Mail, Peugeot, 02 and British Gas. A class action lawsuit was filed earlier this month in the US by the New York based Centre for Constitutional Rights, who are accusing CACI International of conspiring to âdirect and conduct a scheme of torture, rape, and in some instances, summarily execute plaintiffsâ. Approximately 1,000 Iraqis are involved in the action. In an earlier interview, Dr Jack London, the president of CACI International, said he found âthe erroneous information that has been circulating regarding CACIâs involvement in the Abu Ghraib prison deeply offensiveâ. He claimed the company was âworking diligently to uncover the truth and fully cooperating with all government investigations as well as conducting our own internal analysis.â He added: âThe company has never, and never will, condone or tolerate illegal or inappropriate behaviour by any employee when conducting CACI business.â In Britain, CACI Ltd mainly provides strategic business advice to its high-profile clients. Renault has retained the services of CACI in the UK since last July. It refused to comment about the boycott calls last night. |
| Posted by:TS(vice girl) |
| #5 What? No Raisins? :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-06-27 10:31:41 PM |
| #4 The Muzies already control vast areas of the U.K. and now they attack a chocolate company? Maybe Cadbury refused to make a requested 'JihadBar' with almonds & dates. :) |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-06-27 10:20:21 PM |
| #3 ...Well, this is what happens when US troops are allowed to bite the ears off chocolate bunnies and baby ducks... Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-06-27 4:28:03 PM |
| #2 Awriiight. An excuse to buy chocolate! Cool. But... Is Cadbury doing the smarmy gutless apologetic routine? It appears so... Sigh. Perhaps they deserve dhimmitude. And I was looking forward to helping them out for a moment, there... Is there anyone out there, Anon1?, who still buys the Moderate Muslim Myth? Look at where the "moderates" focus their attention: Seething for Dollar$ |
| Posted by: .com 2004-06-27 1:58:20 PM |
| #1 Damn! Guess I'll have to trek to the World Market to get some Cadbury's chocolate. And I was being so good, too. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-06-27 1:51:04 PM |