Australia Official Denies Saddam Kickbacks

[maddezmom]

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Alexander Downer will testify Tuesday at an inquiry into kickbacks allegedly paid by the Australian Wheat Board, now known as AWB Ltd., to Saddam via a Jordanian trucking company.

"The suggestion that somehow people in my department were involved in some kind of a conspiracy with AWB Ltd. to break the laws of Australia, or international law, is absolutely preposterous," Downer told the Nine television network.

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On Monday, Trade Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile is to tell retired Judge Terence Cole, who is heading the government-ordered inquiry, what he knows about the unfolding scandal.

Cole launched the probe in January after a U.N. report last year accused AWB of having funneled $220 million into Saddam's coffers through the trucking company, known as Alia, to secure lucrative grain contracts.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060409/ap_on_re_au_an/australia_oil_for_food;_