A lawmaker and son of the Lebanese president on Friday denied receiving bribes from Saddam Hussein and offered to divulge his bank accounts and be subjected to an investigation. Emile Emile Lahoud, son of President Emile Lahoud, said Lebanese authorities could lift his parliamentary privilege of immunity from prosecution if they wished to interrogate him on the subject.
| If I was on the take, I prob'ly wouldn't put the big bucks into my credit union account. I think I'd have another account someplace else, maybe under an assumed name. Emile Emile probably feels pretty safe... |
Lahoud's name appeared on a long list of alleged benefactors of the deposed Iraqi leader last month. The list, published by Iraq's Al-Mada daily, included the names of 270 former Cabinet officials, legislators, political activists and journalists from more than 46 countries. Members of the provisional Iraqi government and opponents of Saddam have since distributed a list of the accused, based on documents from the Iraqi Oil Ministry. The newspaper said they are suspected of profiting from Iraqi oil sales that Saddam allegedly offered in exchange for political and popular support in their countries. The young Lahoud said he had nothing to do with the former Iraqi regime and has never participated in any illicit deals.
"Whoever wants to examine my bank accounts is free to do so," the lawmaker said in an interview with Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International television station.
| "But not my wife's accounts, okay? And not my cousin Claude Claude's..." |
Earlier this week, a former member of parliament, Najah Wakim, whose name also appeared on the Iraqi list, denied taking any Iraqi money.
The Lebanese judiciary has not moved to investigate the Iraqi allegations. Critics and government opponents accuse the judiciary of overlooking many cases involving senior government officials or their relatives.
| It's a process known as "corruption." |
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