St George's, Grenada: The Commission of Inquiry probing allegations of wrong-doing against Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell Friday [17 June] ended its week of oral testimony with evidence from two security guards who accompanied the prime minister on his overseas trip five years ago. Anthony Jones and Cuthbert Gordon told the inquiry that they didn't see any money since they were not in the company of the prime minister during his meeting with former trade representative Eric Resteiner in a private house in Switzerland. According to the allegations, it was during the visit in 2000 that the former trade representative is alleged to have handed Dr Mitchell a suitcase containing a sum of money, which the prime minister later said was a reimbursement for expenses. The Cheltenham Commission is enquiring into the allegations of financial wrong-doings, in connection with the promotional trip to certain European Union Countries and Kuwait in June 2000 by prime minister Mitchell. Dr. Mitchell has denied the allegations and has taken legal action against a Miami-based media outlet that first published the allegation. The Commission had been postponed after the destruction caused by Hurricane Ivan last year and earlier this year, a Government Information Service statement said, "the difficulty of finding a suitable building to accommodate the inquiry" had also resulted in a delay in its resumption. During the week, former head of the island's offshore banking regulatory body, Michael Creft and Meryl Forsythe, a former Cabinet secretary testified. In his testimony, Creft spoke of his role in facilitating Resteiner to become an economic citizen of Grenada and how he arranged for Dr Mitchell to visit Resteiner in Switzerland. At the start of the hearing this week, Commissioner Richard Cheltenham ruled against a submission by Opposition Leader Tilman Thomas for him to have counsel so as to cross-examine witnesses. Cheltenham said he would inform when the inquiry would resume, since it also depended on the availability of witnesses. Reprinted from mediamonitor.com