Saddam bribed Chirac? (page 2)

hawkaw

I understand the propaganda angle but from a political optics stand point this could really become a huge story - could even be the story of the year in certain countries.

It will be very interesting to watch what transpires.

hawk

Ah, you can point the finger at any government and cry out "hypocrisy!" at the top of your lungs. Take your pick: The U.S., the U.K., the French, et cetera. I just enjoyed the article because the French claimed to be taking moral high ground as to their stance on the Iraq war. In the end, it's all about the money and influence and power. In that sense it's patently ridiculous to point the finger at any country over anything they do, because every country is doing the same thing. Some are more successful than others. It's all one big global economic competitive race. cough *Halliburton* cough cough

MegaDude

Galloway was in Saddam's pay, say secret Iraqi documents
By David Blair in Baghdad
(Filed: 22/04/2003)

George Galloway, the Labour backbencher, received money from Saddam Hussein's regime, taking a slice of oil earnings worth at least £375,000 a year, according to Iraqi intelligence documents found by The Daily Telegraph in Baghdad.

A confidential memorandum sent to Saddam by his spy chief said that Mr Galloway asked an agent of the Mukhabarat secret service for a greater cut of Iraq's exports under the oil for food programme.


	George Galloway: 'I have never in my life seen a barrel of oil, let alone owned, bought or sold one'

He also said that Mr Galloway was profiting from food contracts and sought "exceptional" business deals. Mr Galloway has always denied receiving any financial assistance from Baghdad.

Asked to explain the document, he said yesterday: "Maybe it is the product of the same forgers who forged so many other things in this whole Iraq picture. Maybe The Daily Telegraph forged it. Who knows?"

When the letter from the head of the Iraqi intelligence service was read to him, he said: "The truth is I have never met, to the best of my knowledge, any member of Iraqi intelligence. I have never in my life seen a barrel of oil, let alone owned, bought or sold one."

In the papers, which were found in the looted foreign ministry, Iraqi intelligence continually stresses the need for secrecy about Mr Galloway's alleged business links with the regime. One memo says that payments to him must be made under "commercial cover".

For more than a decade, Mr Galloway, MP for Glasgow Kelvin, has been the leading critic of Anglo-American policy towards Iraq, campaigning against sanctions and the war that toppled Saddam.

He led the Mariam Appeal, named after an Iraqi child he flew to Britain for leukaemia treatment. The campaign was the supposed beneficiary of his fund-raising.

But the papers say that, behind the scenes, Mr Galloway was conducting a relationship with Iraqi intelligence. Among documents found in the foreign ministry was a memorandum from the chief of the Mukhabarat to Saddam's office on Jan 3, 2000, marked "Confidential and Personal".

It purported to outline talks between Mr Galloway and an Iraqi spy. During the meeting on Boxing Day 1999, Mr Galloway detailed his campaign plans for the year ahead.

The spy chief wrote that Mr Galloway told the Mukhabarat agent: "He [Galloway] needs continuous financial support from Iraq. He obtained through Mr Tariq Aziz [deputy prime minister] three million barrels of oil every six months, according to the oil for food programme. His share would be only between 10 and 15 cents per barrel."

Iraq's oil sales, administered by the United Nations, were intended to pay for only essential humanitarian supplies. If the memo was accurate, Mr Galloway's share would have amounted to about £375,000 per year.

The documents say that Mr Galloway entered into partnership with a named Iraqi oil broker to sell the oil on the international market.

The memorandum continues: "He [Galloway] also obtained a limited number of food contracts with the ministry of trade. The percentage of its profits does not go above one per cent."

The Iraqi spy chief, whose illegible signature appears at the bottom of the memorandum, says that Mr Galloway asked for more money.

"He suggested to us the following: first, increase his share of oil; second, grant him exceptional commercial and contractual facilities." The spy chief, who is not named, recommends acceptance of the proposals.

Mr Galloway's intermediary in Iraq was Fawaz Zureikat, a Jordanian. In a letter found in one foreign ministry file, Mr Galloway wrote: "This is to certify that Mr Fawaz A Zureikat is my representative in Baghdad on all matters concerning my work with the Mariam Appeal or the Emergency Committee in Iraq."

The intelligence chief's memorandum describes a meeting with Mr Zureikat in which he said that Mr Galloway's campaigning on behalf of Iraq was putting "his future as a British MP in a circle surrounded by many question marks and doubts".

Mr Zureikat is then quoted as saying: "His projects and future plans for the benefit of the country need financial support to become a motive for him to do more work and, because of the sensitivity of getting money directly from Iraq, it is necessary to grant him oil contracts and special and exceptional commercial opportunities to provide him with an income under commercial cover, without being connected to him directly."

Mr Zureikat is said to have emphasised that the "name of Mr Galloway or his wife should not be mentioned".

Yerusalyim

SaintSatan,

The difference here, is that it wasn't France that benefited directly...it was Chirac himself...as in personal bribe...that and the fact that the business deals that went on were in direct contravention of the UN Sanctions.

France was watching out for Chirac's wallet as much as anything else in it's opposition to the war.

As to the issue of hypocracy...yep, we've all been guilty.

Sirius Dogma

Mega:

I agree with ya. It would be exceedingly pathetic if the french claimng to take the moral high ground, were only building an oil pump on that ground.

Had to argue which is worse though -

1 - Being bribed with oil to keep a country from being invaded

or

2 - Invading a country to get its' oil

Narkissos

Well, wait and see.

Not that I would be surprised: Chirac and his party have a long history with bribery.

For the moment I just notice that those "documents", whoever made them, were quite easier to find than WMD -- even in an occupied country with "collaborationist" officials.

I so hope all this is true - as I have said before on this board -- the French are only interested in the French

Just as the US (I do not say "Americans") are in every strategic place in the entire world?

Satanus

Yeru

Why bother mentioning un or it's resolutions, when niether of your favorite countries give it any head, when it doesn't suit them? What percentage of us foriegn aide has ended up in the pockets of individuals, often dictators? What about recent payments from a foreign country (communist china, i believe) that went to the brother of w bush?

SS

Gerard

France's leading newspaper "Le Figaro" is reporting nothing on this on any section : http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/

And neither does "Al Jazeera": http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage

I also came across this:

Paris and Berlin consider military intervention in Iraq . By Peter Schwarz
28 January 2004 [...] The French and German governments, both of which spoke out last year against the war in Iraq, have more recently been sending out unmistakable signals favouring rapprochement with Washington. In the meantime, they no longer exclude the use of their own troops to help control the occupied country.

Narkissos

Gerard: yes there are three articles on the subject in Le Figaro: apparently the documents are about 1998 (!!!) contracts... and mention Charles Pasqua, who had left Chirac's party for years...

Reborn2002

Valis said:

I think we should invade France for assisting the enemy

I second that! I agree with earlier comments. The French are only interested in the French. They opposed the war for monetary gain, but the moment a WMD from any nation landed on the Eiffel Tower, they would be begging for US aid.

WWII is an excellent example of their modus operandi. The Nazis were able to successfully topple France because the German soldiers marched into the country backwards and told the French they were leaving.

Saddam bribed Chirac?

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