MOSCOW, Oct 7: Russia and France on Thursday protested to the United States over accusations contained in a US report on Iraq that officials of the two countries received bribes from Saddam Hussein's government.
A foreign ministry spokesman said in Moscow the United Nations should make public conclusions from its probe on corruption in the UN's oil-for-food program in Iraq. "After several countries expressed concern over corruption in the oil-for-food program, the UN Security Council decided to create a special commission to investigate the matter," spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said.
"Russia supported that decision," he said. "Like other countries, we are expecting (the commission's) conclusions to be based on facts." "Without the commission's conclusions, it is difficult to comment" on the accusations in the US report, he said.
In a report made public on Wednesday, a US weapons inspector said Saddam's government had issued millions of dollars in lucrative oil export vouchers to leading French, Russian and other foreign politicians as part of a concerted effort to win their assistance in lifting UN sanctions against Iraq.
The study by the Iraq Survey Group said Saddam Hussein paid millions of dollars in cash and petrol export vouchers to elicit help in his bid to end the UN sanctions regime on his country.
The Iraqi intelligence service paid particular attention to influential personalities in France and Russia because the two countries hold permanent seats on the UN Security Council, said the report prepared by chief US weapons inspector Charles Duelfer, who has perused tons of secret Iraqi documents seized in the wake of the US-led invasion of the country.
Baghdad had awarded lucrative oil contracts to nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the Russian Communist Party, which at the time controlled the largest faction in parliament, and the foreign ministry, the report said.
Baghdad also showered with money the well-connected Russian oil and gas oligarchy, including Gazprom, LUKoil, Yukos and other companies, the report said, and worked to establish close ties with Russian intelligence, the former employer of President Vladimir Putin.
FRENCH REACTION: In Washington, a spokesman for the French embassy said the ambassador Had conveyed the displeasure of his government over the allegations to the White House and the State Department. "The ambassador told the White House and the State Department of our displeasure concerning the methods used," the spokesman said.
The official said Paris was particularly unhappy about "the fact that the names of individuals and companies were made public without any apparent attempt to verify the allegations, and without giving them an opportunity to explain themselves. -AFP