Indian FM rejects Iraqi oil-for-food scandal charge

Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh rejected charges made in the Volcker report that he benefited from deals linked to the United Nations' oil-for-food programme for Iraq. In a statement, Singh also denied any wrongdoing by his ruling Congress party in the 100-billion-dollar programme, which was set up by the UN Security Council amid fears ordinary Iraqis were suffering under international sanctions.

The inquiry committee, headed by former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, found that Saddam Hussein's regime manipulated the programme to extract about 1.8 billion dollars in surcharges and bribes while an inept UN headquarters failed to exert administrative control. According to the 500-page report, 139 companies paid illegal oil surcharges to Baghdad and 2,253 firms gave Saddam's regime kickbacks on humanitarian-related goods shipped to Iraq. The fifth and final Volcker report at the Independent Inquiry Committee's official website www.iic-offp.org names Singh as a non-contractual beneficiary of four million barrels of oil allotted to a firm named Masefield AG.

In addition the Congress party, India's oldest political entity, is listed as beneficiary of a separate allotment of four million barrels of oil as part of the transactions. Reliance Petroleum Ltd, a subsidiary of India's largest private sector group Reliance, is also among those who benefited from allotments now under scrutiny.

Singh in his statement said the allegations were aimed at discrediting the Congress, which had friendly ties with Baghdad until 2003 when US-led forces toppled the Iraqi regime. "I am deeply shocked and outraged by these allegations which are baseless and untrue," Singh said in a statement at the end of his four-day visit to Russia. "This is obviously part of a continuing campaign to malign the Congress party and its senior leaders and functionaries," Singh said, adding that after examining the report he would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with his explanation. "My record in public life for the past 50 years and more has been an open book. My personal integrity has never been questioned," Singh said.

Top Congress leader Ambika Soni rallied support for the foreign minister in New Delhi as party spokesman Anand Sharma denied any link between his party and the oil-for-food programme. "This is absolutely wrong and any leader linked to this scandal is quite capable of defending his untarnished name," Soni, the party general secretary, told reporters. "We are determined to take whatever steps necessary to safeguard the name, image and reputation of the party," she said as the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called for an in-depth probe.

"He cannot continue as foreign minister for a minute after this and he must go immediately and the Congress party and the Indian government must set into motion its entire political and investigative machinary to find out the truth of this entire matter," BJP spokesman Arun Jaitley told reporters.

Volvo admits kickbacks in oil-for-food scandal

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=125509&Sn=BUSI&IssueID=28223

STOCKHOLM: Truck and construction equipment maker Volvo Group admitted that its former agent in Iraq had told investigators he paid money to Saddam Hussein's regime in the UN oil-for-food scandal.

"If he says so then we have to assume that that is what happened," Volvo spokesman Maarten Wikforss said, adding that the company was still investigating what exactly took place.

Volvo was one of 2,200 companies identified in a United Nations report on kickbacks paid to the Iraqi government under the oil-for-food programme that ran from 1996 to 2003.

He stressed however that Volvo, which also makes buses and aircraft and boat engines, did not consider the payments as bribes.

"It was considered a tax or a charge that had to be paid in order to do business in Iraq. It was called the '10 per cent system'.

It was not seen as bribes," Wikforss said. He insisted that Volvo does not condone bribery.

*Siemens said that it found no evidence of kickbacks in connection with its work for the UN programme and described a UN report accusing the German company as "hasty and unjustified."

* German-US carmaker Daimler-Chrysler AG, which was mentioned by the UN investigation, was more guarded, saying only that it was "aware" of the report.

* Russian politicians and business leaders issued a scathing response to a report documenting massive corruption in the UN programme, saying some documents implicating Russian companies and individuals were fake.

The head of the nation's electricity monopoly said its authors should be punished for including the name of a former Kremlin chief of staff now serving as its board chairman. Russia's biggest oil producer, Lukoil, suggested it had been named to divert attention from the world body's own failings.

* The Portuguese government said it will assist the international inquiry into corruption surrounding the UN's programme for Iraq, in which two Portuguese nationals have been implicated.

"The government is totally ready to co-operate with the international authorities concerned," Portuguese foreign ministry said.

* The French bank BNP Paribas rejected criticism by an international commission that it had been in a conflict of interest and had lacked transparency in its handling of the the UN programme.

The bank, which managed the programme's accounts, insisted that it had carried out its responsibilities "in good faith and in conformity" with the relevant UN resolution.

l The European Union expressed regret over abuses documented by a report into the UN programme and said the world had to learn from the mistakes it uncovered.

"It's regrettable that a program that was established to improve the ordinary life of Iraqis gave rise to wrongdoing," said EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin.

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