Posted on 04/23/2004 3:41:40 AM PDT by ejdrapes
MP George Galloway last night stood accused before the US Congress of pocketing more than £1million from Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein. Galloway’s name appeared on a bombshell list of individuals and firms allegedly rewarded with vouchers for millions of barrels of oil. The 49-year-old denied being involved, saying: “I’ve never seen a barrel of oil, owned one, bought one.” The allegations were raised in a huge probe into how money which was meant to help starving Iraqis went instead to Saddam cronies. Galloway, who backed Iraq in the Gulf War, features in documentary evidence presented under privilege to a sub-committee of the US Congress on Wednesday. Iraqi newspaper Al-Mada claims he was given “vouchers” for 19million barrels of oil. Evidence presented to Congress suggests the vouchers were handed over to Glasgow Kelvin MP Galloway’s Jordanian intermediary, Fawwaz Zureiqat. They could be redeemed for cash without any oil being involved. The list of those involved with Saddam was submitted during evidence by Middle East Media Research Institute analyst Nimrod Raphaeli. Newspaper Al-Mada spoke of evidence gained by the Iraqi Governing Council from “tons of documents”. Documents handed to Congress say: “Vouchers were given either as gifts or as payment for goods imported into Iraq in violation of the UN sanctions.” Profits depended on the latest oil price. “A voucher for a million barrels would have been translated into a quick profit of 250,000 to 300,000 dollars on the high side, or 50,000 to 100,000 dollars on the low side — all paid in cash,” says Al-Mada. Raphaeli told the Congressional hearing: “If vouchers were granted they were given either as bribes or as payment for illicit goods.” The list being examined by Congress includes Russian oil firms like Sibneft, run by Chelsea soccer boss Roman Abramovich, 37. French politicians, United Nations officials and an Italian priest who introduced Saddam to the Pope are among dozens more. Companies involved in the Iraqi oil-for-food aid programme were supposed to be genuine oil traders with refineries and terminals. Abramovich’s firm has oil refineries. But other Russian organisations, including the Orthodox Church and the Communist Party, have no link with the oil industry. Nor does Galloway, sacked from the Labour Party last year after calling on Iraqi forces to defeat British troops. The UN-sponsored oil-for-food deal was intended to raise cash for starving or sick Iraqi citizens. But hundreds of firms and individuals allegedly creamed vast sums of money off the programme — although there is no suggestion that all those on the US list are guilty of wrongdoing. Some contracts worth billions were allegedly deliberately overvalued, with middlemen skimming ten cents in the dollar off the top. Shipments could involve food which was often out-of-date and unsuitable for consumption. British investigator Claude Hankes-Drielsman is leading the probe by Iraqi authorities. He told the BBC’s Today programme: “The oil-for-food programme provided Saddam with a vehicle through which he bought support by bribing people of influence. The US government's accounting office has already estimated there was $10billion in kickbacks or illegal sale of oil. Far worse is that the Iraqi people suffered.” A spokesman for the Congress committee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, said of the Galloway evidence: “It is part of the official record of the hearing.” Galloway has denied receiving oil or money. “Not one brass farthing,” he told America’s ABC News. “I’ve never seen a barrel of oil, owned one, bought one.” And last night he dismissed the dossier handed to Congress as a “dirty tricks operation” by the Iraqi Council to discredit allies of the former regime. He told The Sun: “I’ve never seen a barrel of oil, bought a barrel of oil or sold a barrel of oil — or had a voucher for a barrel of oil.” He said the supposed middleman Fawwaz Zureiqat was a registered oil trader “doing business in Iraq long before he met me”. He added: “There is no way he could have received vouchers on my behalf without me knowing.” And he said he had no idea where information contained in the dossier came from. Respected Arabic newspaper Al Hayat, published in the UK, said the dossier was genuine. It said the evidence was in documents seized from the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and intelligence centres in Baghdad.
Over a Barrel
I'd call that a non-denial denial in the best Clintonian tradition.
...or in a tumbrel, on his way to the guillotine.
Absolutely right! Here you go:
270 "friends" at last count.
European Banks Jostle for Iraq's UN Contract - Security Council ...
... After insisting for five years that BNP Paribas was the only bank the UN could use
for Iraq's closely-monitored financial transactions, Baghdad recently agreed ...
www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/ iraq1/oilforfood/2002/0219banks.htm - 11k - Apr 21, 2004 - Cached - Similar pages
L'investigateur - AUCHI : Iraqi-Born Billionaire Has Stake in Bank ...
... A United Nations spokesman said it was now impossible to determine why Iraq insisted
on BNP Paribas, other than that the Iraqis had "confidence and trust" in ...
www.investigateur.info/news/articles/ article_2003_05_5_auchi.html - 9k - Cached - Similar pages
US probing France's BNP Paribas bank - (United Press International ...
... US probing France's BNP Paribas bank. NEW YORK, April 6 (UPI) --
New York officials are investigating the US unit of BNP Paribas ...
www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/ 20040406-101544-3728r.htm - 46k - Cached - Similar pages
My search just scratched the surface- I bet it gets worse the further you look.
I knew there had to a reason ( besides fear of unassimilated Muslims ) that the French, etc., were hollering so loudly at our actions.
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