Halliburton calls in Bush lawyer

HALLIBURTON, US Vice President Dick Cheney's old company, battling against perceptions that it is too close to the White House, has hired a law firm previously used by the Bush family to conduct an investigation into allegations of illegal payments on Cheney's watch.

Halliburton has appointed Baker Botts to conduct the investigation into $180m (£95m) in illegal payments between 1995 and 2002 in connection with the construction of a $4.9bn gas plant in Nigeria. Cheney was Halliburton's chief executive at the time.

The Baker of the law firm's name is James Baker, former-Secretary of State under George Bush Senior. The firm's lawyer, James Doty, also acted for George W Bush when he bought a stake in the Texas Rangers basketball team in the 1980s.

Despite the apparently cosy relationship, however, there are signs that relations between Halliburton and the Pentagon may be deteriorating rapidly.

The company has announced that it is suspending a further $140m in billing to the US military pending corruption investigations. The suspension by Halliburton follows an earlier delay involving $35m of charges.