The American owners of a cellular telephone operator in Côte d’Ivoire that was shut down earlier this month are preparing a claim for damages. They charge the Ivorian government with failing to protect their investment. The expropriation claim is being prepared by lawyers for Western Wireless, a Bellevue, Washington-based communications services provider, and Modern Africa, a $110 million fund with investments in nine African-based companies. Together, Western Wireless and Modern Africa report they have invested about $40 million in the mobile phone firm, known as Cora de Comstar. On Friday the Bush administration weighed in with diplomatic backing for the American firms. Assistant Secretary of Commerce William H. Lash, III delivered what he termed “a very harsh demarche” to an official of the Ivorian embassy in Washington. “This is the worst treatment of an investor and the worst example of state-sponsored thuggery I have seen anywhere,” Lash said he told the Ivorian official summoned to the Commerce Department, standing in for Ambassador Youssoufou Damba, who was recalled to Abidjan last week for consultations. He said the treatment of Cora de Comstar could turn Cote d’Ivoire into a “poster child” for negative investment climates. Full Story
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