Posted on 11/17/2004 6:12:17 PM PST by TapTheSource
Today: November 17, 2004
Official: Russia Not Cooperating in Probe
By EDITH M. LEDERER ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Russia is refusing to provide witnesses or information to the independent investigation into alleged corruption in the multibillion-dollar U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq, an official close to the investigation said Wednesday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russian diplomats "dug in their heels" during a meeting in Moscow this week with members of the independent inquiry.
Russia is a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council which approved Secretary-General Kofi Annan's recommendation in April to set up an independent panel headed by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to probe all aspects of the oil-for-food program, including actions of U.N. member states.
Under the program, Russian companies were major recipients of contracts from Saddam Hussein's government for the sale of Iraqi oil and the supply of humanitarian goods to Iraq.
Launched in December 1996 to help Iraqis cope with U.N. sanctions imposed after Saddam's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the program allowed the former Iraqi regime to sell unlimited quantities of oil provided the money went primarily to buy humanitarian goods and pay reparations to victims of the 1991 Gulf War. Saddam's government decided on the goods it wanted, who should provide them, and who could buy Iraqi oil - but the U.N. committee overseeing sanctions monitored the contracts.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement earlier Wednesday that Russian exporters operating under the program did not violate sanctions.
"In particular, it was noted that during the humanitarian operation in Iraq, Russian exporters strictly adhered to the sanctions regime," the ministry said in a statement.
The resolution supporting Volcker's investigation called on the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, the Iraqis themselves, and all 191 U.N. member states and their regulatory authorities "to cooperate fully by all appropriate means with the inquiry."
Russia had initially opposed Volcker's request for a Security Council resolution on grounds that a council statement was enough and its members should not look backward and "stir up the old issue" of oil-for-food. But it relented and supported the resolution.
The official close to the Volcker inquiry said, however, that "the Russians have been reluctant to provide witnesses and information."
"They are being problematic and they are digging in their heels. They're not handing over materials," the official said.
A report by top U.S. arms inspector Charles Duelfer, released last month, alleged that Saddam issued secret vouchers for purchase of oil to an array of officials and political figures from various countries, dominated by Russia, France and China. That oil could then be resold at a profit.
Saddam allegedly issued the vouchers with the aim of currying favor among U.N. Security Council members.
U.S. Congressional investigators on Monday estimated that Saddam had raised more than $21.3 billion in illegal revenue, using the oil-for-food program and other schemes, like the illegal smuggling of oil.
In Russia, the recipients allegedly included the presidential administration's office, top oil companies Yukos and Lukoil, and ultranationalist lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the report said.
At a news conference last month, Volcker said his investigators had received good cooperation from the U.S. and Iraqi governments, and a promise of cooperation from France.
But he said there had been "a little resistance here and there," citing the French bank BNP Paribas, where the oil-for-food program had its account, and the American accounting firm Ernst & Young which was hired by the Iraqi Board of Supreme Audit to review more than 20,000 files from Saddam's regime related to the oil-for-food program.
Might also want to check out Alexandr Nemets' "America and the Eurasian Alliance" article (and all of his other articles for that matter:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/5/14/172106.shtml
That's because they're GUILTY.
I understood hardly a word that was said in today's hearing.
Nuke that bastards! Like we should have in 1945!
So, let me get this straight....the Ruskies won't cooperate on this....AND they announce a monster nuke today? Condi's got her work cut out for her.....
Here's the original list of recipients of Oil coupons as provided by Healing Iraq blogger who got it from the Iraqi Oil Ministry. Russian individuals and organisations feature large:
http://www.healingiraq.blogspot.com/oillcoupons.html
But Putins supporters on FR say he's totally honest and trustworthy.
"Nuke that bastards! Like we should have in 1945!"
Or we should have at least followed Gen. Patton's advice and attacked them as soon as the Nazis surrendered!!!
true.
but we should offer a deal - give up France, and we'll let you off the hook. we must remove the French security council veto power.
I've made a "keen observation".
NONE of the guilty are cooperating!
"But Putins supporters on FR say he's totally honest and trustworthy."
Not to mention a good Christian since childhood--even when he was a Colonel in the KGB!!! All hail Putin!!!
Ah, yes. I had forgotten about that. I recall one female type defending his Christianity and even bragging about the churches built because of Putin...in North Korea and Cuba.
"Or we should have at least followed Gen. Patton's advice and attacked them as soon as the Nazis surrendered!!!"
Nah...We should have waited until they transferred several divisions to the East for the invasion of Manchuria, and the planned invasion of Japan...then let the Reds have it! Can you imagine how Stalin would have felt...trusting Hitler only to be betrayed by him, and then have the same thing happen with the US of A...he would have been murdered before US troops crossed the Oder River!
Looks like France and the U.S. might also be up to no good - at least the firms mentioned - Gosh I wonder "who" the firms in the U.S. are protecting - ? (Like people don't already know)
So much went on in the 1990s - a lot of businesses became as corrupt as those in other nations - The virus runs deep -
Russia has been bad for a long, long time - 'Tis hard to turn a new leaf in less than a century no - ()
how much cooperation did you get from OJ Simpson when he was on trial?
if our determining of guilt in this investigation of the UN depends on guilty parties cooperating it doesnt stand much of a chance of being successful.
"if our determining of guilt in this investigation of the UN depends on guilty parties cooperating it doesnt stand much of a chance of being successful."
Good point.
They'll slow roll this animal into the next century.
So will France and Germany. All guilty as a whore on a Saturday night Navy payday in the red light district of San Diego.
There are two names on the US list. One is arab by the sound of it, the other is Samir Vincent. Who is he, does anyone know?
Just curious...
Germany was not on the original list as provided by the Iraqi Oil Ministry. See previous post for link.
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