Australia's prime minister confirmed Wednesday his government knew of U.N. concerns that the country's monopoly wheat exporter might be paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime to secure lucrative contracts. John Howard said the government looked into the concerns and accepted assurances that no improper payments were being made, reiterating long-standing denials that government officials knew about alleged kickbacks.
Documents released Tuesday to an official inquiry into AWB Ltd.'s business dealings in Iraq show the U.N. was concerned of possible kickbacks as early as 2000, and asked the Australian government to investigate. Such payments would break the rules of the U.N. oil-for-food program. Howard said the U.N. warning had sounded alarm bells in his government. He insisted that the claims had been investigated.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, meanwhile, said the government had accepted AWB's assurance that it was not paying bribes. ``Proper inquiries were made, contracts were obtained and the United Nations said that the misperceptions had been removed,'' Howard said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio Wednesday.
An inquiry headed by former state Supreme Court judge Terence Cole is investigating whether AWB executives knowingly paid up to $222 million in bribes to Saddam's regime to win wheat contracts. Investigators say the kickbacks were paid as bogus transport fees to a Jordanian trucking company partially owned by the Iraqi government.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5654758,00.html
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