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| Europe |
| France Urges "Caution" in Oil-For-Food Case |
| 2004-10-07 |
| Caution??? lol Somebody is nervious JOHN LEICESTER France urged caution Thursday in dealing with a U.S. inspector's allegations it was involved in corruption at the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq, while others singled out in the report rejected the charges as "far-fetched." This Frog is in far left field! The report issued Wednesday by Charles Duelfer, head of the Iraq Survey Group, said Saddam Hussein issued secret vouchers for the purchase of oil, which could then be resold at a profit, to an array of officials and political figures from various countries, mainly Russia, France and China. The report named former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri and the Russian radical political figure Vladimir Zhirinovsky as voucher recipients and implicated foreign governments, including Namibia and Yemen. Zhirinovsky, who frequently traveled to Saddam's Iraq and had called for increased trade between the two countries, adamantly denied the claim in the report, which also cited top Russian oil companies Yukos and Lukoil as recipients. "I never took a drop (of oil), or a single dollar from Iraq or from any other country. I have never dealt with oil," the Interfax news agency quoted Zhirinovsky as saying Thursday. "I do not care what someone might have received, I personally gained nothing." Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa also rejected the accusations. (I am not a crook!!) "There is no credence to these allegations," Natalegawa said. "It's a fact that we took part in the oil-for-food program, but this notion of vouchers is far-fetched. There were no dealings other than the oil-for-food." The Namibian government also was quick to proclaim it had never received vouchers from Saddam or purchased any oil from Iraq. "We never had any connection to Saddam Hussein. My president has condemned Saddam Hussein," Information Minister Nanjolo Mbumba said in a telephone interview from Windhoek. He added that Namibia buys all its oil from South Africa. Pasqua's office said the former interior minister, who recently won a Senate seat and the parliamentary immunity that it confers, was not immediately available for comment. But French Foreign Ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous counseled caution, saying the allegations weren't checked with the people or countries involved. "It is important to assure oneself very precisely on the veracity of this information," he said. "We understand that these accusations against companies and individuals were not verified either with the people themselves or with the authorities of the countries concerned." (Give us a break) Russia's Foreign Ministry expressed its support for the investigation into the alleged bribes. "The investigation that is being conducted should result in an objective picture of possible irregularities that could have been committed under the oil-for-food program," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said. (Yes comrade, everything is perfect in the peoples paradise) "Russia, like all countries, is interested in the results of this investigation being objective," he said, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. Yukos and Lukoil officials also could not be reached for comment. The names of American companies and individuals who may have been involved in oil deals weren't released because of U.S. privacy laws, the report said. (I think some of us would not mind reviewing those as we sit at the bloody gas station.) Separately, Swiss authorities said Thursday that the owner of a Geneva-based oil trading firm has been fined $39,500 for making illegal payments for oil contracts in Saddam's Iraq and 10 more companies could be investigated. (ooppps ...what's this??) The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs fined the head of the company for paying $60,000 to win a contract for the purchase of Iraqi crude oil under the U.N.'s oil-for-food program, said spokesman Othmar Wyss. Iraq failed to honor the contract and did not sell any oil to the company, despite the payment, the secretariat said. Wyss declined to name the person or the company involved. (The plot thickens ..mmm) The oil-for-food program was designed to allow limited oil sales to pay for humanitarian goods, but critics and U.S. congressional investigators have long alleged that administration of the program was rife with corruption and failed to prevent illicit business deals and massive kickbacks to the Iraqi government. And please readers let us not forget which pipeline was used to allow all this Iraqi crude to flow and be re-labled... SYRIA! |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #15 Jules, Saddam Hussein had some pet Paletinian terrorist groups bivouacked in Baghdad up until the very end. Perhaps this is how he supported them? I'm sure that none of them had, y'know, paying jobs. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-10-07 10:19:46 PM |
| #14 Word on the street is you can pay France off but it doesn't do any good; just cheese eating surrender monkeys. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-10-07 7:56:21 PM |
| #13 Peoples Liberation Front of Palestine... Really? Recipients of oil vouchers? Wonder how they finagled that???? |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-10-07 5:55:39 PM |
| #12 In what languages, other than German, does the sound of v mutate into f? Just curious. |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-10-07 5:53:22 PM |
| #11 The CIA names names: Among the alleged recipients of oil vouchers were Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, Russian ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and his Liberal Democratic Party, the Russian presidential office, the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Ukraine Community Party, the Ukraine Socialist Party, the son of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and the Peoples Liberation Front of Palestine. There are also many others. The only U.N. official on the list is Benon Sevan, the head of the humanitarian program for Iraq, who has been accused previously of receiving an oil voucher and has denied it several times. He is list as a Mr. Sifan, a U.N. official. |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-10-07 5:31:28 PM |
| #10 Dick Morris outlines the gang of thieves well in a FRONT PAGE magazine article in April : Dick Morris Article The list of those receiving these bribes includes France's former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua (who's a leader of Chirac's party) and Patrick Maugein, the head of the French Oil firm Soco International. France's former UN ambassador, Jean-Bernard Merimee, got vouchers to sell 11 million barrels. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-10-07 5:19:26 PM |
| #9 From the 90s-all I could find for now. It's kinda amusing, considering that it comes from that bastion of righteousness, the beeb: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/despatches/69411.stm |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-10-07 5:10:55 PM |
| #8 I seem to remember a couple stories about ships carrying oil of suspect origin-the stories came out in the 90s, if I remember correctly. At that time, it sounded like Russia was connected to the activity. Maybe there were joint ventures we haven't even tapped the surface of yet. |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-10-07 4:13:45 PM |
| #7 Jules, very good idea, there are trade publications and records for each and every supertaker enter and exiting the Gulf. |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-10-07 4:06:48 PM |
| #6 In the midst of all these denials, it might be useful to dig up some stories about illegal ship activity in the gulf between 1991-2002. |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-10-07 3:36:03 PM |
| #5 Extreme Makeover U.N. Edition? |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2004-10-07 3:33:45 PM |
| #4 Gay marriage ceremony in Taxachusetts? |
| Posted by: John (Q. Citizen) 2004-10-07 3:32:12 PM |
| #3 Prom picture? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-10-07 3:13:32 PM |
| #2 Pretty as picture |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-10-07 3:12:46 PM |
| #1 Duplicate posting. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2004-10-07 3:12:31 PM |