ABC Scoop on UN Scandal: "Monumental Rip-Off?"

ABC ^ | Apr 21, 2004 | Brian Ross

[The Raven]

April 20 — At least three senior United Nations officials are suspected of taking multi-million dollar bribes from the Saddam Hussein regime, U.S. and European intelligence sources tell ABCNEWS.

One year after his fall, U.S. officials say they have evidence, some in cash, that Saddam diverted to his personal bank accounts approximately $5 billion from the United Nations Oil-for-Food program.

In what has been described as the largest humanitarian aid effort ever undertaken, the U.N. Oil-for-Food program began in 1996 to help Iraqis who were suffering under sanctions imposed following the first Gulf War.

The program allowed Iraq to sell limited amounts of oil, under supposedly tight U.N. supervision, to finance the purchase of much-needed humanitarian goods.

Most prominent among those accused in the scandal is Benon Sevan, the Cyprus-born U.N. undersecretary general who ran the program for six years.

In an interview with ABCNEWS last year, Sevan denied any wrongdoing.

"Well, I can tell you there have been no allegations about me," he said. "Maybe you can try to dig it out." And in a Feb. 10 statement, Sevan challenged those making the allegations to "come forward and provide the necessary documentary evidence" and present it to U.N. investigators.

But documents have surfaced in Baghdad, in the files of the former Iraqi Oil Ministry, allegedly linking Sevan to a pay-off scheme in which some 270 prominent foreign officials received the right to trade in Iraqi oil at cut-rate prices.

"It's almost like having coupons of bonds or shares. You can sell those coupons to other people who are normal oil traders," said Claude Hankes-Drielsma, a British adviser to the Iraq Governing Council.

Investigators say the smoking gun is a letter to former Iraqi oil minister Amer Mohammed Rasheed, obtained by ABCNEWS and not yet in the hands of the United Nations.

[The Raven]

Why not sieze the assets of these characters ?

[kcvl]

According to the document, France was the second-largest beneficiary, with tens of millions of barrels awarded to Patrick Maugein, a close political associate and financial backer of French President Jacques Chirac.

Maugein, individually and through companies connected to him, received contracts for some 36 million barrels. Chirac's office said it was unaware of Maugein's deals, which Maugein told ABCNEWS are perfectly legal.

All the while, Iraqis continued to suffer and die under the thumb of a notoriously sadistic dictator and his sons.

Who, exactly was trading blood for oil again?

[the_Watchman]

The GOP may be blindsided on this one! A Google search found links from Samir to the first Bush admin. See this link for a ready-made "connect the dots" picture:

http://www.namebase.org/xvil/Samir-Vincent.html

Furthermore, this ABC NEWS link has the list of donors and is dated January 29,2004! I thought this was supposed to be a scoop.

Better yet, see this Free Republic post in March:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1068518/posts

"Shakir al-Khafaji, an American citizen who came to the United States in 1976, has contributed to the campaigns of former U.S. Rep. David Bonior, Rep. John Conyers, Sen. Carl Levin — all Michigan Democrats — and the Clinton/Gore 1996 Primary Committee

11 posted on 01/30/2004 1:24:43 PM PST by Republican Red"

[Living Free in NH]

United Nations Oil-for-Food program

You don't suppose there was a United Nations Hide-WMD-for-Cash program, do you?

[kcvl]

Jean Marie Benjamin (Father Benjamin)
Biography


Former staff member of the United Nations, UNICEF “Special Events Officer”, Geneva headquarters

Secretary General of the "Beato Angelico Foundation"

Member of the "Société des Gens de Lettres de France"

President of the "Benjamin Committee for Iraq"


Born in France on 11 April 1946, Jean-Marie Benjamin has been resident in Italy since 1975.

He directed and wrote the film "Padre Pio: la Notte del Profeta" (shown on RAI UNO, 27 April and 25 May 1999).

From 1983 to 1988 he served as "Special Events Officer" for UNICEF in Geneva. During this time he organised many television programmes in Europe and Japan with the participation of Peter Ustinov, Audrey Hepburn and others. In 1986 he created the "World Philharmonic Orchestra"

In 1988 he ended his cultural activities for the United Nations to devote himself to theological studies in Rome which led to his being ordained a priest on 26 October 1991. Between 1991 and 1994 he accompanied Cardinal Agostino Casaroli (Secretary of State, Vatican) on his missions in Europe and throughout the world. In 1992 he was appointed Secretary General of the Beato Angelico Foundation.

February 2003. He organizes the visit of the Iraqi Vice prime minister Tareq Aziz to Italy (13-16 Feb.03). Following coordination with the Secretariat of State of the Vatican for an audience with the Pope John-Paul II (13 and 15 January) he meets the Vice prime minister in Baghdad on 24 January to inform him about the initiative and to extend an invitation from the Beato Angelico Foundation. During their meeting Benjamin proposes to Mr. Aziz a visit to the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi.

December 1998 - he was in Baghdad during the bombing and, after an international enquiry, made a new documentary entitled: "Iraq: journey to the forbidden kingdom" dedicated to the living conditions of the Iraqi population and the impact of radioactive contamination on the population and the environment due to the use of weapons containing depleted uranium.

Jean-Marie Benjamin now lives in Assisi where he has transferred the Beato Angelico Foundation and has set up a multimedia production and post-production studio.

e-mail: info@benjaminforiraq.org Web: www.benjaminforiraq.org


Father Benjamin, a French Catholic priest who arranged a meeting between the pope and Tariq Aziz: 4.5 million

[the_Watchman]

I neglected to provide the ABC NEWS link from January. When I went back to get it, the page would not fetch. However, Google had a copy in its cache:

http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:Lxi3tTnrTC8J:abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Investigation/saddam_oil_vouchers_040129.html+Shakir+Alkhalaji&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

The link that has gone dead is:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Investigation/saddam_oil_vouchers_040129.html

[AmericanVictory]

Maddy, you will recall, was busy sucking up to Thaci and other terrorist, corrupt thugs, setting the scene for the present well concealed disaster in Kosovo and Bosnia.

[RobFromGa]

WHen I went to the connect-the-dots picture and did a new search, and clicked Ann COulter, it showed Janet Reno as one of the 5 people most closely connected to Ann.

I don't think that there is much to worry about here.

[GailA]

MASTER LIST OIL FOR FOOD SCANDAL

[kcvl]

Ali Ballout (A Lebanese professional journalist) is currently working with Peter Grimsditch (A British professional journalist) on a book about Saddam's dealings with Washington from 1970 up to the beginning of thid year. Ali writes in Arabic, Peter receives a straight translation and edits/rewrites it. Ali is former editor in chief of Ad Dustour. Peter worked on Daily Mail, Express, Sunday Mirror, New York Post among others before moving to Beirut.

Lebanese writer Ali Ballout says that in 1993, after America's Desert Fox bombing campaign against Iraq, Saddam Hussein concluded that a US invasion against him was inevitable, so he secretly put together a guerrilla network in preparation.

Ali Ballout, who acted as a go-between for Saddam with Washington, is soon to publish a book. I spoke to him from his home in Beirut.

ALI BALLOUT: He did realise first that an invasion, you know, will happen because the American administration tried many times to make a good attack at his regime, to topple him from within Iraq, and it has been failed. So for him, you know, he did prepare himself for the worst-case scenario and military invasion.

ALI BALLOUT: Yes, I think, you know, he did start that sort of guerrilla war based on small groups here and there, and the Iraqi leadership, the head, the elite of the Iraqi leadership, you know, doesn't know about it. The only one who knows about it is himself.

ALI BALLOUT: He believed the only way he could make some sort of balance, military balance, by dragging in the Americans to inside Iraq.

[kcvl]

What does Ann Coulter have to do with any of this?


*****


Ali Ballout, who seems to be the correspondent for Al-Jazeera in Spain. He is called "Jihad Ali Ballout" and is rather pro-Saddam. Mr. Ballout brags about how smart Saddam is.

[kcvl]

Jihad Ali Ballout, the marketing-and-PR head of Al Jazeera (before Al Jazeera, he was with Philip Morris). Ballout, whom everybody in the American press has gotten to know, is generally thought to be the coolest gray-flannel-slacks-and-tasseled-loafers dude in Doha.

[snopercod]

The following are the names of some of those listed as receiving Iraqi oil contracts (amounts are in millions of barrels of oil):

Russia
The Companies of the Russian Communist Party: 137 million
The Companies of the Liberal Democratic Party: 79.8 million
The Russian Committee for Solidarity with Iraq: 6.5 million and 12.5 million (two separate contracts)
Head of the Russian Presidential Cabinet: 90 million
The Russian Orthodox Church: 5 million


France
Charles Pasqua, former minister of interior: 12 million
Trafigura (Patrick Maugein), businessman: 25 million
Ibex: 47.2 million
Bernard Merimee, former French ambassador to the United Nations: 3 million
Michel Grimard, founder of the French-Iraqi Export Club: 17.1 million

Syria
Firas Mostafa Tlass, son of Syria's defense minister: 6 million

Turkey
Zeynel Abidin Erdem: more than 27 million
Lotfy Doghan: more than 11 million

Indonesia
Megawati Sukarnoputri: 11 million

Spain
Ali Ballout, Lebanese journalist: 8.8 million

Yugoslavia
The Socialist Party: 22 million
Kostunica's Party: 6 million

Canada
Arthur Millholland, president and CEO of Oilexco: 9.5 million

Italy
Father Benjamin, a French Catholic priest who arranged a meeting between the pope and Tariq Aziz: 4.5 million
Roberto Frimigoni: 24.5 million

United States
Samir Vincent: 7 million
Shakir Alkhalaji: 10.5 million

United Kingdom
George Galloway, member of Parliament: 19 million
Mujaheddin Khalq: 36.5 million

South Africa
Tokyo Saxwale: 4 million

Jordan
Shaker bin Zaid: 6.5 million
The Jordanian Ministry of Energy: 5 million
Fawaz Zureikat: 6 million
Toujan Al Faisal, former member of Parliament: 3 million

Lebanon
The son of President Lahoud: 5.5 million

Egypt
Khaled Abdel Nasser: 16.5 million
Emad Al Galda, businessman and Parliament member: 14 million

Palestinian Territories
The Palestinian Liberation Organization: 4 million
Abu Al Abbas: 11.5 million

Qatar
Hamad bin Ali Al Thany: 14 million

Libya
Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem: 1 million

Chad
Foreign minister of Chad: 3 million

Brazil
The October 8th Movement: 4.5 million

Myanmar (Burma)
The minister of the Forests of Myanmar: 5 million

Ukraine
The Social Democratic Party: 8.5 million
The Communist Party: 6 million
The Socialist Party: 2 million
The FTD oil company: 2 million

[kcvl]

"By now we have a group of people well versed in bin Ladenism and they edit his tapes," Jihad Ali Ballout, al-Jazeera's communications and media relations manager told United Press International.

This group pares down the al-Qaida leader's more inflammatory rhetoric, his devagations and tergiversations, and boils down the tape to the essential news content.

[kcvl]

10.22.99

Megawati Sukarnoputri - or "Mega" has taken the vice presidency of Indonesia after years of living in the shadow of her father, the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno.

[kcvl]

'Commander of the Spanish Civil Merit,' one of Spain's most important state awards, has been given to Dr. Zeynel Abidin Erdem, the chairman of DEIK's Turkish-Spanish Business Council

[kcvl]

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.

[Rebelbase]

This was news months ago. ABC finally decides to go with the story. Wonders never cease.

[mewzilla]

Note to Brian Ross. Duh. Keep digging, sport. You might catch up.

[Old Sarge]

Who here honestly thinks that this story, even if ABC puts it out, will ever get traction?

Pass.