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Gold/Mining/Energy : WWS.T World Wide Minerals -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nicholas Rainford who wrote (769)	10/4/2000 12:01:42 AM
From: traacs	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 784

Mr. Paul Carroll reports World Wide Minerals is filing an immediate appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington in its $1-billion lawsuit against the Republic of Kazakstan, Kazatomprom, and Nukem, Inc. The appeal results from the lower court's decision wherein the judge accepted jurisdiction over the two Kazakhstan defendants but said it lacked jurisdiction over the United States company, Nukem. However, the judge dismissed the company's action against the Kazakstan defendants, relying upon the Act of State Doctrine which states that a U.S. court cannot invalidate an act of a foreign sovereign. Paul Carroll, chairman of World Wide Minerals, stated, "Clearly, we are not at all pleased with the decision but at least some ruling has been made." As for the Act of State Doctrine, he pointed out that: "No acts of the Kazakstan government would have to be declared invalid in the lawsuit. Furthermore, the actions of the Kazakstan government were done through commercial entities. The Act of State Doctrine is subject to a major legal exception when foreign governments are acting in a commercial capacity. "This is a case about a privatized Kazakstan company inducing World Wide to invest tens of millions of dollars in the Kazakstan uranium industry, despite apparently having a secret agreement with Nukem that would prevent it from honouring its commitments." The Kazakstan government subsequently renationalized the Kazakstan company and sold the World Wide Minerals property to other companies. "To let this decision stand would mean any government acting in a commercial activity could insulate itself from lawsuits by simply making a decree," Mr. Carroll added. "It would be another sad chapter in the annals of foreign direct investment in emerging markets."