Free Republic

Saddam Hussein's ousted regime gave crude oil "coupons" to its foreign backers to thank them for their support and help in circumventing UN-imposed sanctions, former Iraqi officials told AFP. "The regime used to give Arab and other foreign political figures coupons worth millions of barrels of crude oil which they could sell on the market and almost always make a full profit," one of the officials said. According to the former official, these deals were "legal" and were managed by Iraq's State Oil Organisation (SOMO) which continued to hand out crude oil favours to supporters of the regime a few...

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq, 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.</p> <p>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.</p>