Posted on 05/20/2004 12:16:10 PM PDT by areafiftyone
UNITED NATIONS, May 20 (Reuters) - The head of an inquiry into alleged corruption in the UN-run oil-for-food program in Iraq said on Thursday he was looking into allegations of misconduct by U.N. staff as a first priority.
Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, also said he was trying to obtain documents from Baghdad.
He made clear that his investigation should take priority over other competing probes and that he would not release confidential documents to the press or anyone else.
He expected a preliminary report within three months but said the entire investigation could take a year.
"I don't want to promote an eight ring circus. That's not the way to get a straight report," Volcker told a news conference. "It may be appropriate to release documents but not before we have a chance to look at them."
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein last year, documents have been released that indicate bribes and kickbacks were paid to individuals and contracts were skimmed in the now-defunct $67 billion program.
The now defunct oil-for-food program began in December 1996 and was meant to ease the impact of 1991 Gulf War sanctions on ordinary Iraqis. The program allowed Iraq to sell oil and buy humanitarian goods under U.N. supervision.
Purported copies of documents released by members of Iraq's Governing Council show an oil voucher that could be turned into cash paid to Benon Sevan, the head of the U.N. program. He has vigorously denied any wrongdoing.
"As a matter of first priority, the investigation has now begun into the allegations of misconduct by U.N. staff," Volcker said, followed by a broader examination of the U.N. administration of the program.
Volcker and two other financial specialists were appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan last month to head an independent inquiry into allegations surrounding the program.
CHALABI CONNECTION?
But Volcker said he had no information about whether a nighttime raid by U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police on the home of Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi was connected with papers he may have had on the oil-for-food scandal.
Chalabi, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, who is responsible for making public the alleged scandal, said his charges had "cast doubt" on the integrity of the United Nations, to the chagrin of the United States.
"It did not cross my mind when I heard about the Chalabi business this morning that it had anything to do with our team having gone to Baghdad," Volcker said. "I have no idea what was taken from his home but if they are relevant documents, we would like to see them.
But he said he knew there was a "bit of a tug of war" in Baghdad about the records. The U.S.-led coalition has more or less taken the probe out of the hands of Chalabi and the Governing Council by appointing its own audit team.
"Our concern is that we have access to them (the documents) in a way that is unfiltered and unbiased. That is quite a challenge under the circumstances that exist in Baghdad," Volcker said.
Many of the misdeeds, particularly oil smuggling and surcharges demanded from oil companies, were reported over the years to a U.N. Security Council committee that supervised the program. But political divisions often prevented action.
New, however, is a list of government officials, individuals and firms who received vouchers for oil that could be cashed in for money and firms who paid kickbacks to Saddam.
Someone needs to put some panties on Koffi's head...
Apparently, the mainstream media, which loves nothing more than a scandal, does not like it so much when there is a big, fat finger pointing at it's iconic darling, the oh so soft spoken and reasonable Mr. Anan, who I believe, by the way, is up to his tookas in this and who will nevertheless get off scot free and continue to be lionized.
Just as long as the investigation doesn't stop with the UN.
Yeah, big shocker this is, eh.
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