Third of Halliburton-managed Iraq properties 'could not be located'

A third or more of the government property Halliburton was paid to manage for the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq could not be located by auditors, investigative reports to Congress show.

Bowen’s findings mark the latest bad news for Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company, which is the focus of both a criminal investigation into alleged fuel price gouging and an FBI inquiry into possible favouritism from the Bush administration.

FBI agents have extensively interviewed an Army contracting officer who last month went public with allegations that the Bush administration was improperly awarding contracts to Halliburton without competitive bidding.

Halliburton and the Pentagon deny wrongdoing, and say they are co-operating in all investigations.