Saddam took €1.5bn in oil-for-food pact
Paul Volcker, who led the inquiry, said the corruption would not have been so pervasive had there been better discipline by UN management.
He emphasised the need for wide-ranging UN reforms.
It is the fifth and final report into the programme, which was set up to ease the effect of economic sanctions on Iraq following the invasion in Kuwait.
The UN-established Independent Inquiry Committee, led by the former US Federal Reserve Chairman also named politicians in Russia, France, Britain, Italy and other nations who were given favours by Saddam in his quest to get 1990 UN sanctions lifted.
The report blamed UN officials for a lack of oversight and said Security Council members took little action when UN oil experts passed on their concerns.
In addition, the BNP-Paribas bank, which held the escrow account for the programme, did not disclose evidence of corruption in its possession, the report said.
Preferential treatment was given to companies in France, Russia and China, all permanent members of the Security Council who were more favourable to lifting the 1990 sanctions compared to the United States, Britain and Japan.
Among those named in the report as receiving oil vouchers that could be sold for a commission were British MP George Galloway, former French UN Ambassador Jean-Bernard Merimee, former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua and Russian ultranationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
Top European companies like Germany’s DaimlerChrysler AG and Siemens, Britain’s Weir Group and the Brussels-based branch of Volvo Construction Engineers were among those reported to have paid kickbacks to Iraq.
Under the programme, which allowed Iraq to write its own contracts and choose buyers, oil firms including Vitol, Glencore and Bayoil paid out millions in illegal surcharges, the report said.
The 19-month investigation has caused havoc at the UN, whose officials say the world body was unequipped to handle a programme of that size.
US Ambassador John Bolton said Saddam was able to manipulate the program people “with the willing cooperation of UN officials, the acquiescence of some member states, and, as today’s report indicates, the willingness of private companies and individuals to pay huge sums in bribes and kickbacks to the Hussein regime”.
Mr Galloway, the Bethnal Green and Bow MP, angrily denied the new allegations last night.
“How many times must I repeat this: I’ve never had a penny through oil deals and no-one has produced a shred of evidence that I have,” he said.
Mr Galloway said he had never even heard of the companies named in the report or met an oil trader named as a source.
He also denied the allegation that his former wife Dr Amineh Abu-Zayyad had received more than €98,800 through the scheme via a company called Delta Services.
Earlier this week a US Senate Committee accused Mr Galloway of lying about the oil allocations under oath.
Republican Senator Norm Coleman claimed to have obtained new evidence proving that Saddam’s regime granted allocations to the MP and his Mariam Appeal fund.
His report also claimed to have discovered €123,560 ($150,000) worth of Iraqi oil money in his wife’s bank account.
Mr Galloway left for Paris last night where he will meet lawyers representing former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz, following a potentially vital rebuttal.
Mr Aziz allegedly told investigators linked to both reports that Mr Galloway had requested oil allocations in the name of Mr Zureikat, a Jordanian businessman and good friend of the MP.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
