[Dilbert56]

Can't be - his motives were only the purile - I mean purest.

[Drammach]

Iraqi govt. papers: Saddam bribed Chirac

BAGHDAD, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Documents from Saddam Hussein's oil ministry reveal he used oil to bribe top French officials into opposing the imminent U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The oil ministry papers, described by the independent Baghdad newspaper al-Mada, are apparently authentic and will become the basis of an official investigation by the new Iraqi Governing Council, the Independent reported Wednesday.

"I think the list is true," Naseer Chaderji, a governing council member, said. "I will demand an investigation. These people must be prosecuted."

Such evidence would undermine the French position before the war when President Jacques Chirac sought to couch his opposition to the invasion on a moral high ground.

A senior Bush administration official said Washington was aware of the reports but refused further comment.

French diplomats have dismissed any suggestion their foreign policy was influenced by payments from Saddam, but some European diplomats have long suspected France's steadfast opposition to the war was less moral than monetary.

"Oil runs thicker than blood," is how one former ambassador put his suspicions about the French motives for opposing action against Saddam.

Al-Mada's list cites a total of 46 individuals, companies and organizations inside and outside Iraq as receiving Saddam's oil bribes, including officials in Egypt, Jordan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Sudan, China, Austria and France, as well as the Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian Communist Party, India's Congress Party and the Palestine Liberation Organization.


Copyright 2004 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.

[EggsAckley]

Iraqi govt. papers: Saddam bribed Chirac


BAGHDAD, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Documents from Saddam Hussein's oil ministry reveal he used oil to bribe top French officials into opposing the imminent U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The oil ministry papers, described by the independent Baghdad newspaper al-Mada, are apparently authentic and will become the basis of an official investigation by the new Iraqi Governing Council, the Independent reported Wednesday.

"I think the list is true," Naseer Chaderji, a governing council member, said. "I will demand an investigation. These people must be prosecuted."

Such evidence would undermine the French position before the war when President Jacques Chirac sought to couch his opposition to the invasion on a moral high ground.

A senior Bush administration official said Washington was aware of the reports but refused further comment.

French diplomats have dismissed any suggestion their foreign policy was influenced by payments from Saddam, but some European diplomats have long suspected France's steadfast opposition to the war was less moral than monetary.

"Oil runs thicker than blood," is how one former ambassador put his suspicions about the French motives for opposing action against Saddam.

Al-Mada's list cites a total of 46 individuals, companies and organizations inside and outside Iraq as receiving Saddam's oil bribes, including officials in Egypt, Jordan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Sudan, China, Austria and France, as well as the Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian Communist Party, India's Congress Party and the Palestine Liberation Organization.




Copyright 2004 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.

[lilylangtree]

Considering France's attitude through this whole situation, I'm not the least bit surprised.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

Bump for later read.

[2banana]

I fart in their general direction...

[ppaul]

This is not news.

[mountaineer]

Ex-minister denies Iraq oil claim

Former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua has denied claims that he received gifts from Saddam Hussein in return for supporting his regime. Mr Pasqua rubbished recent reports in Iraqi newspaper al-Mada, saying he had "never received anything from Saddam Hussein, neither petrol nor money".

The paper printed a list of foreigners who, it says, received oil coupons for backing an end to sanctions.

Mr Pasqua denies claims he was given 12 million barrels of crude oil.

He told French television: "I have never received any gifts from the Iraqi government and I am not in the habit of making my decisions on the basis of any remuneration I might receive.

"That is not part of my ethics or my conception of things."
Mr Pasqua denied knowing that any such transactions were taking place in the 1990s but he said it did not surprise him.

"Former Interior Minister Charles Pasqua is not involved, but maybe other former ministers are involved," he said.

Mr Pasqua told Le Monde newspaper that he was not and had never been a friend of Saddam Hussein.

He said the neo-Gaullist RPR party he was part of at the time of the first Gulf War in 1991 pushed for action against the Iraqi regime.

There are at least 11 French names on the list of more than 270 foreigners published by al-Mada.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3435319.stm

[LibWhacker]

Well, if Saddam gave the French a discount on more than one tanker full of oil, he paid too much. The French would've sold out for much less, perhaps even as little as a discount on one barrelful, so naturally does treachery come to them.

[reed_inthe_wind]

This act defiles the office France holds as a permanent member of the UNs security council. It is tantamount to treason - if the UN means anything to anybody.

[stuartcr]

No surprise, I would think anyone, faced with an invasion by the US, would try anything, if they thought it would help. France makes out like a bandit...keeps the bribe, and knows the US will do what we want anyway.

[kidd]

While we all know that this was the case, it is nevertheless quite remarkable that there is a paper trail to back it up.

Heads will roll.

Tip of the iceberg, Scott Ritter is next, BTTT.

[rhombus]

Perhaps France should be removed from the security council. Why isn't the UN investigating? Why aren't the "multi-laterialists" outraged and demanding and investigation? (sound of crickets chirping)

[Arpege92]

If found guilty, what will happen to those rats?

[TheDon]

"I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!"

[Viking2002]

Kinda puts a different spin on the Left's ol' 'no blood for oil' chant, doesn't it?

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Whadda surprise - not!!!!!!

[swilhelm73]

Of course the reason Chirac built the Osirak nuclear facility for Iraq a few decades ago was for oil then too, so it is hardly surprising Chirac's government is yet again screwing over their allies and abusing their position in the UN for oil...

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

More comments here.

[Tunehead54]

Has ANYONE seen this list? Please post ASAP!

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'-)