We are shocked. (Hat tip: Hervé)
THREE COUNTRIES BLOCKED ALL EFFORTS TO STOP THE CORRUPTION
September 8, 2005 (Telegraph) - Russia, China and France sabotaged UN Security Council efforts to crack down on Saddam Hussein's manipulation of the oil-for-food programme, the Volcker report says.They worked effectively to assist the Iraq dictatorship, which, according to numerous Iraqi witnesses, had decided to give contract preferences to "companies from countries perceived as sympathetic to the lifting of [UN] sanctions, most prominently some members of the Security Council."
Speaking yesterday, Mr Volcker said there "was no doubt that there were difficulties with the Security Council, hampering action on some reports of smuggling and kickbacks".
The report names China, Russia and France as the main obstacles to a more effective system. Britain and the US repeatedly proposed changes, only to be blocked by the pro-Iraqi trio. The report says there was no sustained effort by the Security Council to tackle claims of corruption or the milking of the programme by Saddam.
Shocked. And now, more big news from the back pages. Pretend you are shocked.
FRENCH EX-DIPLOMAT PROBED IN OIL-FOR-FOOD SCANDAL
PARIS, September 11, 2005 (AFP) - Serge Boidevaix, who now works as a businessman, was placed under formal investigation on Thursday for "influence peddling and active corruption of a foreign agent," according to the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.He is one of 11 French nationals* suspected of having received massive oil allocations, totalling 32.6 million barrels, as kickbacks from the regime of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein between 1998 and 2002, the paper said.
UN documents made available to French investigating judge Philippe Courroye earlier this year cited French former interior minister Charles Pasqua as having benefited from Iraqi oil allocations under the oil-for-food plan.
One of Pasqua's aides, Bernard Guillet, is under investigation as part of the probe. He is suspected of having received commissions from a middleman who brokered the resale of Iraqi oil.
* For those who like to know, these are the bad boys on the BRDE (la brigade de répression de la délinquance économique) list:
1. Charles Pasqua, former interior minister from 1986 to 1988 and again from 1993 to 1995; currently enjoys immunity from prosecution as a member of the French senate; profited from 10.7 million barrels of Saddam oil.
2. Bernard Guillet, former diplomatic adviser to M. Pasqua; 2 million barrels.
3. Elias Firzli, a Christian Lebanese lawyer and member of the Ba'ath party who served as an intermediary; 11 million barrels (a portion of the resulting funds to be sanitized and kicked back to Saddam designees); between 1998 and 2002 paid 30 million francs by Total for facilitating access to Iraq oil.
4. Patrick Maugein, a businessman close to Jack, a longtime associate of the trader and former fugitive Marc Rich, a close contact of Tariq Aziz back in the day, and "the non-executive chairman of Soco International PLC, a publicly listed London-based petroleum exploration/production company, which goes into markets the majors tend to skip--Mongolia, Vietnam, North Korea, Libya and Yemen"; 13.2 million barrels.
5. Jean-Bernard Mérimée, former permanent representative of France to the Security Council of the United Nations from 1991 and 1995, then French ambassador to Rome until 1998; 2 million barrels.
6. Serge Boidevaix, president of the Chamber of Franco-Arab Commerce since 1992 and former secretary-general of the Quay d'Orsay; 32.6 million barrels; see above.
7. Claude Kaspereit, helms the European Trading International; 8.5 million barrels.
8. Michel Grimard, former member of the RPR national council; 7.5 million barrels.
9. Gilles Munier, the secretary-general of the Franco-Iraqi Friendship Association (AFI); 9.5 million barrels.
10. Hamida Na' Na, a Palestinian (Le Monde)/Syrian (MEMRI) journalist, biographer of Iraq's former deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz, and work-in-progress biographer of Ali Hassan Al-Majid, known as Chemical Ali; indeterminate profiting; received 100,000 Swiss francs from M. Firzli.
11. Ruy di Souza, associated with Mr. Maugein through the company Monegasque Toro Energy; indeterminate profiting .
PFFT (What is this?): Complete and utter surprise 0 | Rayonnement français 0
