CP VIOLATION AND STRONG PHASES FROM PENGUINS IN B-+ --]PP AND B-+/--]VP DECAYS/

We calculate direct CP-violating rate asymmetries in charged B --> PP and B --> VP decays arising from the interference of amplitudes with d ifferent strong and CKM phases. The perturbative strong phases develop at order alpha(s) from absorptive parts of one-loop matrix elements o f the next-to-leading logarithm corrected effective Hamiltonian. CPT c onstraints are maintained. Based on this model, we find that partial r ate asymmetries between charge conjugate B-+/- decays can be as high a s 20% for certain channels with branching ratios in the 10(-6) range. Because the c (c) over bar threshold lies so close to the physical mom entum scale, the asymmetries depend sensitively on the model assumptio ns used to evaluate the imaginary parts of the matrix elements, in par ticular, on the internal momentum transfer. The charge asymmetries of partial rates would provide unambiguous evidence for direct CP violati on.