- Lord Bell, the public relations adviser who masterminded
Margaret Thatcher's rise to power in 1979, has been awarded a contract
to promote democracy in Iraq.
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- The Conservative peer's company, Bell Pottinger, has
become one of the first British firms to win business from the American
administration that is overseeing the rebuilding of the country after the
fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.
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- Bell Pottinger - which, in partnership with two companies
based in the Middle East, submitted a tender in January - has been commissioned
to work on a large-scale public relations drive that will precede the handing
over of power to an Iraqi government in June.
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- Speaking from Morocco, where he is on holiday, Lord Bell
said the message would be that democracy was "the route to peace and
prosperity".
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- He said: "There's no Arab word for democracy. That's
one of the difficulties. If you say, 'Isn't democracy wonderful?' and they
don't have a word for it, then it is not surprising that they do not have
the same view."
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- He added: "We will be using all media: television,
print, outdoor posters, leaflets and town hall meetings."
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- Bell Pottinger will lead a consortium that includes the
Dubai-based advertising agency Bates PanGulf and the media services company
Balloch & Roe, which already has offices in Baghdad.
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- The peer said that he would be "masterminding the
campaign in London" and that it was unlikely that he would travel
to Iraq himself. A team from Bell Pottinger has already visited Baghdad
and was planning to fly out again tomorrow, he said.
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- Tim Bell was one of the founders of Saatchi & Saatchi
in 1970 and, as the company's international chairman, he helped it to become
Britain's leading advertising agency by 1981. He ran the publicity campaigns
for the Conservative Party at the 1979, 1983 and 1987 elections, and was
awarded a knighthood in Margaret Thatcher's resignation honours in 1990.
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- He has surprised some industry observers with his durability
and continues to be an adviser to many big British companies.
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- The contract is good news for Bell Pottinger, which was
recently hired by Lord Black, only to be dropped a month later. Canadian-born
Lord Black turned to his friend for help after a barrage of bad publicity
that eventually led to him being ousted as chairman and chief executive
of the Telegraph group.
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- Earlier this week, the US administration unveiled the
new constitution for the Iraqi provisional government, which is due to
take power on 30 June.
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- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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- http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/media/story.jsp?story=500728
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