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| Iraq | |
| Arabs, Westerners Deny Bribe Allegations | |
| 2004-01-28 | |
| I’ll just bet they did! Arabs and Westerners accused by Iraqis of receiving Iraqi oil proceeds in exchange for supporting Saddam Hussein denied Tuesday they had accepted bribes or participated in illicit deals.
"You can’t believe a newsrag in Baghdad! It’s not like they have the credibility of the New York Times or ... um, wait." About 270 former Cabinet officials, legislators, political activists and journalists from 46 countries are on the list, suspected of profiting from Iraqi oil sales that Saddam had allegedly offered them in exchange for cultivating political and popular support in their countries. In Jordan, former parliament member Toujan Faisal, who is on the list, said she never took Iraqi bribes, but had served as an intermediary between the Iraqi government and a Jordan-based oil dealer. "I wanted to help this dealer who happened to be a good of friend of mine do business in Iraq," she told The Associated Press. And got paid well for it too, I imagine. Mrs. Faisal, suspected in the selling of 3 million barrels of Iraqi oil, said the deal was brokered in late 2001 and her friend sold 1 million barrels for a commission that didn’t exceed 3 cents for each barrel. "I had nothing to do with this," said the former lawmaker, who was known for her support of the Saddam regime. Former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, among Europeans on the list, on Tuesday denied receiving bribes from Saddam. "That’s far-fetched," said the conservative hard-liner who headed France’s Interior Ministry in the late 1980s and early 1990s. "First, I was never interested in oil. A French official not interested in oil? That’s a first. "Second, I am not a friend of Saddam Hussein and I do not see how my name came to be in this," he told Europe-1 radio. It was on the list, that’s how. In Baghdad, Iraqi Oil Ministry Undersecretary Abdul-Sahib Salman Qutub said the provisional government found documents proving the alleged bribes. He threatened to "sue those who stole the money of the Iraqi people. These documents show that the former regime spent lavishly Iraq’s wealth here and there on persons, politicians, head of parties and journalists who were backing its corruption." Wonder if Ramsey Clark will volunteer for the defense? Iraqi National Congress spokesman Entifad Qanbar, speaking to reporters in Baghdad, said his party had the list of people allegedly bribed with Iraqi oil in return for support to Saddam. "We have thousands of pages of Iraqi intelligence documentation which back up those lists. What you are seeing in those lists is only the iceberg of what you are going to see in the future," he said. I think the French health service is going to be buying a lot of proton pump inhibitors. for the ulcers, gang. Cheez, have to explain all the medical references, takes the fun out of the joke. Qutub, the Iraqi oil ministry undersecretary, said some of the documents had been stolen to "avoid any condemnation to persons who were collaborating with (Saddam’s) regime." Wonder why they weren’t burned? The documents, as published in the Iraqi Al-Mada newspaper, showed people who allegedly received Saddam’s graft came from 46 countries, including Arab states, Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric in New York said he wasn’t aware of any investigation related to the U.N. oil-for-food program, which had allowed the Saddam regime to sell limited quantities of oil to raise funds to help the Iraqi population. The program ended three months ago. "The oil-for-food program has been repeatedly audited by internal and external auditors. It has been satisfactorily audited both internally and externally," he said. "Anderson Accounting said our books were the best they’d seen since Enron’s!" Jordanian businessman Fawaz Zreiqat, who’s on the list of accused, told AP he had sold Iraqi oil for five years starting in 1998. But he said all his deals were conducted under the U.N. oil-for-food program. "Selling Iraqi oil is a legitimate business, it’s not like selling drugs, Let’s see, 10 cents, carry the 3, times the square root of 48, plus six toes ... damn, that’s a lot of money! In Cairo, Abdel Adhim Manaf, editor in chief of Sawt al-Arab newspaper, an Egyptian newspaper published in Cyprus, told AP: "I have official letters from Iraqis offering me this issue (oil), but I turned them down and I have documents to prove that... Even if I had received (oil), what’s the problem? The Iraqis are saying the Arab oil is for all Arabs. This is not a crime, this is not forbidden. I have always supported Saddam and believed in him, and I still do. I will never backtrack." Gotta admire the consistency. Truly the power of a small mind! | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #11 Its the Bart Simpson defense.. "Nobody saw me you cant prove anything I didnt do it" |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2004-1-28 10:21:23 PM |
| #10 Also heard on Fox today, from spokesman for one of the GA, that the list included the UN head of the Oil for Iraq -- guy from Brazil! |
| Posted by: Sherry 2004-1-28 2:54:02 PM |
| #9 mike, LOL! "All my deals were done with the approval of Saddam and the United Nations" well, well...that's certainly easy enough to believe - but hardly a denial of the crime as charged. |
| Posted by: B 2004-1-28 2:06:30 PM |
| #8 All this denial reminds me of a scene in one of the greatest movies of all time: "I am shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!" "Excuse me, monsieur, your winnings." "Oh, thank you." |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-1-28 1:15:12 PM |
| #7 Of course nothing in the WP - Cheney and cronies weren't involved. |
| Posted by: Anonymous2U 2004-1-28 12:22:33 PM |
| #6 "First, I was never interested in oil. I don't doubt that. It couldn't have been the money, could it? |
| Posted by: lil dhimmi (JC) 2004-1-28 11:16:42 AM |
| #5 mhw, I wonder how many names on the list are 'big media'..... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-1-28 9:40:29 AM |
| #4 Nothing in the Washington Post today. Big media are no doubt hoping this blows over. |
| Posted by: mhw 2004-1-28 8:59:10 AM |
| #3 Tip of the iceberg, I bet. Of, course, they'll deny everything. Let 'em. Then trot out the docs to the newsies. Sweet. |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-1-28 3:02:18 AM |
| #2 I can't wait to see how this pans out. I bet there is fire behind the smoke. Oh please Dr Rantburg, play on! |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-1-28 1:46:35 AM |
| #1 Not Enron - Parmalat! |
| Posted by: Anonymous2u 2004-1-28 1:12:27 AM |