Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!!
Posted on 02/03/2005 5:53:40 PM PST by Cornpone
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 3 (AFP) - An independent inquiry into the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq questioned Thursday former secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali's choice of a French bank to handle the immense sums of money involved in the scheme.
Boutros-Ghali selected the Banque National de Paris (BNP) in 1996 even though it was not the lowest bidder for the contract to manage the programme's escrow account, the inquiry committee said in an interim report.
Moreover, neither Boutros-Ghali nor any other appropriate official justified in writing the rejection of the lowest acceptable bidder as being in the interests of the United Nations -- as would have been required by the UN's own financial regulations.
Only four banks -- BNP, Chase Manhattan, Credit Suisse and Union Bank of Switzerland -- submitted proposals for the escrow account contract.
A subsequent analysis of the proposals ranked Credit Suisse number one, with BNP in third place.
"For the selection of BNP, a competitive bid process was initiated but then not completed," said the inquiry, which is headed by former US federal reserve banking chief Paul Volcker.
It said Boutros-Ghali had chosen BNP "for reasons that were not appropriately disclosed at the time."
The committee implicated neither BNP nor the French government in any wrongdoing, although Volcker stressed the investigation was far from over.
Interviewed in December last year by the investigating committee, Boutros-Ghali said he had left it up to the Iraqis to choose from the short list of four banks.
"When I have this short list, I get in contact with the Iraqis. And said what is your choice?" the former UN chief said in the interview. "And they said we want this bank. It's okay. And this is how the choice was done."
However, in a later interview in January, Boutros-Ghali told the committee that he had in fact chosen BNP because of US opposition to the choice of a Swiss bank.
The US stance had been communicated by the then US ambassador to the United Nations, Madeleine Albright, four days before the awarding of the contract to BNP.
According to a UN memo cited in the report, Albright offered three reasons against selecting a Swiss bank: Swiss banking laws were not sufficiently transparent, Switzerland was not a UN member at the time, and Saddam Hussein and his family had personal bank accounts in the country.
Choosing a bank was a "third-class problem" compared to the other issues occupying his time, Boutros-Ghali told the committee, acknowledging that BNP had been selected to satisfy the major interested parties.
So Maddy Half-bright had a hand in this too.
Sheesh. This is the kind of people that our billions are buying?
Left it up to the iraqis, who were already bribing the french, to choose a US or french bank. hmmmm. which would Saddam choose?
The more I hear about the US the more I HATE IT!
Freudian slip perhaps?
We have known about the French banking connection for a long time, since the original expose in the WSJ. But I wasn't previously aware that Albright signed off on it.
I wonder which bank submitted the second-highest bid, UBS or Chase?
INC's Meeting with Madeleine Albright
(September 20, 2000)
The INC has published a press release on its meeting in New York with US. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright September 14, 2000.
A delegation of the Iraqi opposition, sponsored by the Iraqi National Congress, met with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright here today. The delegation thanked Dr. Albright for her time and her tireless efforts to help the Iraqi people. The delegation is in New York to consult with members of the UN on the situation in Iraq.
The delegation expressed its grave concern about the plight of the Iraqi people under Saddam's regime and urged the United States and the international community to take immediate steps to ease their suffering. Among the steps urged is the creation of a new independent international organization for the relief of the Iraqi people, which has access to the $9 billion in the Iraqi escrow account at the Banque National de Paris. The group pointed out that Saddam's refusal to use these funds to provide relief to the Iraqi people was part of his campaign to exploit their suffering for propaganda purposes. Saddam's regime bears complete responsibility for the suffering of the Iraqi people.
The delegation urged the enforcement and expansion of the no-fly zones and implementation of 'no-drive-zones' to protect Iraqi civilians from attacks by the regime. They also called for the establishment of an international tribunal to try Saddam and his regime on charges of crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes.
The delegation comprised:
* Dr. Hamid Al Bayati- representative of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
* Dr. Emanuel Kamber- representative of the Assyrians and deputy chairman of the INC Central Council.
* Dr. Mahdi Al-Bassam- member of the INC Central Council.
* Mr. Oguz Gurgur- representative of the Iraqi Turkoman National Front.
* Dr. Barham Salih- representative of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
* Mr. Farhad Barzani- representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
* Gen. Nageb Al Salihi- member of the INC Central Council.
* Mr. Nizar Haidar- representative of the Islamic Action Organization
Saturday, September 16, 2000
Clinton Administration Grants $4 Million To Iraqi Opposition
NEW YORK (News Agencies) - The Clinton Administration notified Congress that it intends to grant $4 million to the Iraqi opposition, in hopes of toppling Saddam Hussein.
U.S. plans to give $4 million to Iraqi opposition
An American official said that after a meeting between Madeleine Albright and Iraqi dissidents in New York on Thursday that the U.S. will contribute to fund a newspaper, radio transmitters and other media operations.
An additional $268,000 was given to the Iraqi National Congress for administration. But none of the funding will be used for military action.
Foes of the Iraqi government asked Albright during the meeting to work on tightening international supervision over an Iraqi indirect account, which is used for oil revenue deposits coming from the Oil For Food program.
This account, kept in Banque Nationale De Paris, contains $8 to $9 billion, and although Iraq doesn't have full control over the account, the government decides who gets contracts funded by the money.
We all have out slips...just checking;-)
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!!
BNP.....Bungs No Problem
Heck, it was no problem at all. They came up with the most mordida. Now on to the tough decisions.
Ketchup boy and spouse owned a chunk of BNP, which they ditched just before he began to campaign.
(Source : http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1241576/posts 13 )
Mr Annan arrives in Ireland on Wednesday for his five-day visit. Next Monday he will give a lecture at the University of Ulster in Derry.
Here's a picture of Annan criticizing Bush as he delivered the Heinz Distinguished Lecture at UPitt in 2003. Notice the obvious display of the Heinz and UN flags behind him. A little earlier Annan had received the Heinz Foundation's Humanitarian Award for arranging to have the UN distribute Supplefer (made in a Heinz factory in Italy) to malnourished children in several countries, including his native Ghana.
Ah France France France, we knew the French would pop in in this mess sooner or later didn't we?
Seems simple to me: the Frogs were in this up to their unwashed armpits.
bttt
Boutros Ghali was educated in France, and I believe bought a retirement home there while he was still Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in Egypt.
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