Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors say Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion. An indictment in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti of arranging for three members of Congress to travel to Iraq in October 2002 at the behest of Saddam's regime. Prosecutors say Iraqi intelligence officials paid for the trip through an intermediary. In exchange, Al-Hanooti allegedly received 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil. The lawmakers are not mentioned but the dates correspond to a trip by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and...

<p>The trip that three Democratic congressmen made to Baghdad last week was jointly funded by two private organizations — a religious group and a charity, both of which oppose a war with Iraq.</p> <p>The costs were shared by the Interfaith Network of Concern for the People of Iraq, a project of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, and a charity in Southfield, Mich., called Life for Relief and Development (LIFE), which provides humanitarian aid to Iraq.</p>