Expats at risk from new wave of worries

CANBERRA - The dangers of working and doing business abroad have been hammered home to Australians by terrorism, murder and detention in Asia and the Middle East.

The bombings of the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels are believed to have targeted Western businessmen, Rio Tinto iron ore executive Stern Hu remains in detention in China, and Australian mining project manager Drew Grant was shot dead in Papua.

In the Middle East, two Australian businessmen have been charged with fraud in the United Arab Emirates after spending six months in jail - seven weeks in solitary - bringing to more than 90 the number arrested there since January last year.

Matt Joyce, of Melbourne, and Marcus Lee, of Sydney, were arrested in January in connection with allegations of bribery involving a Government development in Dubai.

Critics of the arrest believe Joyce and Lee are scapegoats.

"I think more and more people are now starting to understand the risks involved in doing business overseas," Joyce's lawyer, Martin Amad, told ABC radio yesterday.

"With the impact of the global economic crisis I think more and more people will be charged on similar allegations and I think Australian businessmen need to be aware - and the Australian Government needs to be aware - that this is a distinct possibility.

"I suppose we could say that, but for the grace of God, would go many, many Australian businessmen."

Joyce was managing director, and Lee commercial manager, of the Government-owned Nakheel's Dubai Waterfront development.

They were arrested in January, but the charge of fraud has only just been confirmed in an Arabic-language prosecution summary, which yesterday had still to be translated for Amad.

The prosecution brief will not be provided until the men appear in court.

Amad told the ABC that the circumstances under which Joyce and Lee were arrested might not be sufficient for charges to be laid in Australia.

"Australian businessmen need to be careful," he said.

"What may not be a crime in Australia may, indeed, run foul of laws in other countries.

"In saying that, we believe in this particular case that there is really no evidence of any wrongdoing against both Lee and Joyce here."

Government agencies regularly advise Australian businesses to research laws and customs, carefully select foreign partners and ensure their operations avoid the temptation to follow bribery and kickbacks common in many countries.

In Shanghai, Hu remains in detention amid a deepening political row that Canberra is trying to contain while working behind the scenes to help the Chinese-born Australian citizen. Hu is alleged to have breached national security by obtaining sensitive commercial information that gave away China's bottom line in iron ore negotiations, although no charges have yet been laid.

The case has disturbed Western businesses and diplomats because of uncertainties over Beijing's blurred line between commercial information and national security, and the probability that Hu has been caught up in complex internal politics surrounding iron ore contracts.

In Jakarta, investigators believe Jemaah Islamyiah terrorists targeted hotels frequented by Western businesses, a warning that the Australian Foreign Affairs Department has given for months and has now upgraded.

New Zealander Timothy Mackay and seven others were killed after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near businessmen gathered for a regular breakfast meeting.

Grant, the 29-year-old Melbourne project manager shot dead in Papua last week, was killed by unknown assailants on the road leading to the Freeport goldmine.

Commentators have speculated that his death was the result of feuding police and soldiers fighting for protection payments amounting to a reported US$5 million ($7.7 million) a year.

Indonesian authorities have blamed Papuan separatists or unspecified foreign interests.