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International-UN-NGOs
Resistance met in U.N. oil-for-food probe
2004-10-26
The U.N. investigation into Iraq's corrupt oil-for-food program has started running into resistance, the lead investigator told the Financial Times. Paul Volcker said after six months of work, documents found at the Iraqi oil ministry include the names of several prominent politicians in France, Russia and elsewhere who allegedly received illegal Iraqi oil from Saddam Hussein. He said so far investigators have had "good cooperation," but as the web of corruption peels away, "a certain amount of friction" was being encountered. "When you begin to appraise and find out about a particular company that was really corrupt, and the people who may have been behind that, then you will get some resistance, whether by government or otherwise," he said. The U.S. Congress has four congressional committees also investigating, as well as two New York law enforcement agencies, which Volcker said was not working out well. "We'd like to think that they are complementary (to the investigation). But they are not. They are competing," he said.
Posted by:Steve

#12  I gave you every chance in the world... but nada. Consider youselves bewritten.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-10-26 8:12:09 PM  

#11  i would have never guessed they would have met resistance in a criminal probe
Posted by: smokeysinse   2004-10-26 6:22:03 PM  

#10  "We'd like to think that they are complementary (to the investigation). But they are not. They are competing," he (Volcker) said.

Hey, Paul - we're Capitalists. Competition is good.
Posted by: mojo   2004-10-26 12:20:13 PM  

#9  TW, thatks for the link and info about Il Sole. Interesting choice for the interview. It seems like as much of a warning shot for the DOJ and Congress as for Kofi and friends.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-10-26 11:20:03 AM  

#8  In other news, the bank robbers are resisting cooperating fully with the constabulary, and have not been forthcoming with documentation concerning the alleged robbery.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2004-10-26 11:04:18 AM  

#7  FT link: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/3bee4030-26c8-11d9-9157-00000e2511c8.html

After posting above, I went to read the Financial Times story. This was not a leak; its written as an short interview Volker had with reporters from the FT and the Italian business daily Il Sole . This is a warning shot across the bow of Kofi & Friends that Volker's investigation will not be stopped, nor the results kept quiet. The movers & shakers of the world read these particular papers -- what they report carries more weight than any old New York Times "papers of record."

"The independent investigation into corruption under the United Nations oil-for-food programme will pursue its inquiry wherever it leads even to a presidential palace, Paul Volcker, its chairman, has said." Now where is it that presidents live in palaces, pray tell?
Posted by: trailing wife   2004-10-26 10:55:20 AM  

#6  It seems to me that the only way investigations can be "competing", is if they set out to prove different conclusions, ie: one will win and one will lose.
Posted by: 2b   2004-10-26 10:52:00 AM  

#5  Interesting that the investigator told the Financial Times, which is based in London. Claudia Rosett pretty much broke this story -- in the Wall Street Journal. Wouldn't be fair to give them all the goodies, and anyway, wouldn't it be more fun for Kofi Annan to get pressure from both sides of the Atlantic?
Posted by: trailing wife   2004-10-26 10:44:07 AM  

#4  "We'd like to think that they are complementary (to the investigation). But they are not. They are competing," he said.

Now what are the chances that an independent investigation might result in the revelation of things that a UN investigation of itself might not?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2004-10-26 10:34:03 AM  

#3  LOL Mikey Ship
Posted by: Frank G   2004-10-26 10:26:40 AM  

#2  Interesting they chose to leak to the FT to trash the UN and Congresional investigations. Volcker must be feeling the heat from both sides now.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-10-26 10:10:37 AM  

#1  I'll be back at 17:00 zulu, have your links in good order.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-10-26 9:58:57 AM  

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