Africa: UK attempt to halt US human rights cases against British firms

The U.K Government has made a formal intervention in the US justice process in an attempt to stop British companies being sued in America for alleged human rights violations committed around the world. The move follows months of lobbying from British businesses, which are concerned that they might have to pay millions of pounds in compensation for the alleged exploitation of Third World countries and their people. The Foreign Office is understood to be concerned about a billion-dollar damages claim against British companies that conducted business in apartheid South Africa. Shell, Barclays, NatWest and the mining group Anglo American were named as co-defendants in a lawsuit brought by victims of the racist regime.