April 21, 2004

Oil-for-Blood-Money. "At least three senior United Nations officials are suspected of taking multi-million dollar bribes from the Saddam Hussein regime, U.S. and European intelligence sources tell ABCNEWS. One year after his fall, U.S. officials say they have evidence, some in cash, that Saddam diverted to his personal bank accounts approximately $5 billion from the United Nations Oil-for-Food program .. Most prominent among those accused in the scandal is Benon Sevan, the Cyprus-born U.N. undersecretary general who ran the program for six years .. documents have surfaced in Baghdad, in the files of the former Iraqi Oil Ministry, allegedly linking Sevan to a pay-off scheme in which some 270 prominent foreign officials received the right to trade in Iraqi oil at cut-rate prices .. [Including] Charles Pasqua, former [French] minister of interior [and] Bernard Merimee, former French ambassador to the United Nations .. ". More "U.N. Officials Bribed by Saddam". Posted by Greg Ransom | TrackBack