Russian leaders snared in Iraq oil-for-food scandal

Former top officials from Saddam Hussein’s government told US congressional investigators they provided millions of dollars worth of oil allocations as a form of pay-off to Russian leaders in hopes of ending UN sanctions against Iraq, a congressional panel said.

Hussein’s vice president, Taha Yasin Ramadan, told investigators that the allocations were “compensation for support”, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs investigations subcommittee said in a report being released today.