2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 28, 2005 NATION/WORLD Report: 2,200 firms paid oil bribes NEWS IN BRIEF Investigators say U.N. failed to stop corruption, letting Saddam turn $64-billion program into cash cow UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Investigators of the U.N. oil-for-food program issued a final report yes- terday that accused more than 2,200 U.S. and foreign companies, and prominent politicians, of colluding with Saddam Hussein's regime to bilk the operation of $1.8 billion. The 623-page document was a scathing indictment that exposed the global scope of a scam that alleg- edly involved such name-brand companies as Daim- lerChrysler and Siemens AG, as well as a former French U.N. ambassador, a firebrand British politician and the president of Italy's Lombardi region. It meticulously detailed how the $64-billion pro- gram became a cash cow for Saddam and more than half the companies participating in oil-for-food - at the expense of regular Iraqis suffering under tough U.N. sanctions. It blamed shoddy U.N. management and the world's most powerful nations for allowing the corruption to go on for years. "The corruption of the program by Saddam would not nearly have been so pervasive if there had been diligent management by the United Nations and its agencies," said Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman who led the investigation. Volcker and many nations said the report under- scored the urgent need to reform the United Nations. Earlier reports in his investigation have already led to criminal inquiries and indictments in the United States, France and Switzerland. The investigators found that companies and indi- viduals from 66 countries paid illegal kickbacks using a variety of methods, and those paying illegal oil sur- charges came from, or were registered in, 40 countries. Most of the contracts went to Russian and French companies and individuals, who were rewarded for their governments' outspoken opposition to the sanc- tions. But the report found that even firms in coun- tries supportive of the sanctions, such as the United States, found ways to manipulate the system illegally - sometimes by using Russian firms as middlemen. While most of the names of those individuals and companies were known, the extensive involvement of U.S. firms will be embarrassing to the United States government, which has been a leading critic of corrup- tion in oil-for-food. The oil-for-food program, which ran from 1996-2003, allowed Iraq to sell limited and then unlimited quantities of oil provided most of the money went to buy humanitarian goods. It was launched to help ordinary Iraqis cope with U.N. sanctions imposed after Saddam's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. But Saddam, who could choose the buyers of Iraqi oil and the sellers of humanitarian goods, corrupted the pro- gram by awarding contracts to - and getting kickbacks from - favored buyers. Volcker's $38 million investigation, which ran for about a year and a half, had earlier faulted U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, his depu- ty, Canada's Louise Frechette, and the Security Council for tolerating corruption and doing little to stop Saddam's manipulations. The final report released yesterday detailed just how companies bilked the program. There were two main ways they did it: through sur- charges paid for humanitarian contracts for spare parts, trucks, medical equipment and other sup- plies; and kickbacks for oil contracts. Most of the illicit income - more than $1.5 billion - came from the humanitarian contracts. Israelis kl7 in response to bombing JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel killed seven Palestinians in a missile strike yes- terday against Islamic Jihad, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he would not meet with the Palestinian leader until he cracks down on armed groups - a dou- ble-edged Israeli response to the latest sui- cide bombing. Sharon threatened a "broad and relentless" offensive against Palestinian militants, including mass arrests and air- strikes, but security officials said Israel would stop short of a large-scale military operation. Sharon's decision to shun Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was the clearest signal yet that efforts to reiive peacemak- ing after Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip last month have run aground. Abbas has said he cannot and will not confront militants, fearing civil war, but it's unlike- ly progress can be made unless the two leaders meet. The international community has been pressing for a quick Israeli-Palestinian agreement on new security arrangements for Gaza's borders, and a continued dead- lock over such issues will prevent the eco- nomic recovery of impoverished Gaza. That, in turn, could hurt Abbas's chances in parliamentary elections in January. Wednesday's bombing in an open- air market in the central Israeli town of Hadera killed five Israelis, the fourth sui- cide attack by Islamic Jihad since Abbas negotiated a truce deal with Palestinian has groups in February. Abbas, widely known as Abu Mazen, and condemned the bombing, but Israel said he must do much more. prof it "If the Palestinian Authority does not pment take serious and tangible action against ter- pmeflt rorism, there will be no diplomatic progress Chiefs and that would be a pity. In such a situation, I will not meet with Abu Mazen," Sharon le a said after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Jerusalem. d There had been repeated efforts in recent weeks to arrange a Sharon-Abbas e meeting, but Israeli and Palestinian nego- face tiators could not find enough common ground on issues such as Gaza border arrangements, prisoner releases and an Israeli pullout from some West Bank towns to hold a summit. Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said Sharon's demands for a crackdown "do not serve the peace process and we are ready for a meeting between Sharon and Abu Mazen without conditions." .* In the Gaza refugee camp of Jebaliya, Israeli aircraft fired two missiles at a car carrying Islamic Jihad militants. Hospital officials said at least seven people were at the killed and 15 wounded, four of them criti- cally. Among the dead were at least two Islamic Jihad members, including field commander Shadi Mohanna. Iran should be expelled from the United Nations after its new president said Israel should be "wiped off the map," Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said yesterday. "Since the United Nations was established in 1945, there has never been a head of state that is a U.N. member state that publicly called for the elimination of another U.N. member state," Peres told Israel Radio. "There has never been such a scandal. It is impossible to ignore this and close your ears," said Peres, a Nobel peace laureate, adding there is no place in the world body for such a country. In a speech Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said "there is no doubt that the new wave (of attacks) in Palestine will wipe off this stigma (Israel) from the face of the Islamic world." Ahmadinejad spoke at a Tehran conference called "The World without Zionism." WASHINGTON Legislators plan special honors for Rosa Parks Black civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks would become the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda under resolutions prepared yesterday by lawmakers. Parks's refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955 led to a 381-day boycott of the city's bus system and helped,spark the modern civil rights movement. She died Monday in Detroit at age 92. The Senate approved a resolution yesterday allowing her remains to lie in honor in the Rotunda on Sunday and Monday "so that the citizens of the United States may pay their last respects to this great American," according to a draft from the office of Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) The House was expected to consider it today. WASHINGTON House rejects plan to keep military bases open The House voted overwhelmingly yesterday to allow the first round of U.S. mili- tary base closures and consolidations in a decade, clearing the way for facilities across the country to start shutting their doors as early as next month. - Compiled from Daily wire reports CORRECTIONS A story in yesterday's edition of the Daily ('U' overshoots enrollment targets again) incorrectly reported that John Matlock is associate director of admissions. He is associate vice provost and director of the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives. A story in the Oct. 14 edition of the Daily (Ludacris to perform on campus) incorrectly left the impression that Ludacris is the first hip-hop. artist to perform at a Unviersity venue. Wyclef Jean performed at Hill, Auditorium in 2000. Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com. BAGHDAD 15 killed in clash between militants Shiite militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr clashed yesterday with Sunni militants in fighting that killed at least 15 people, and three American sol- diers died in separate attacks the day before, officials said. Six Iraqis died and 12 were wounded in other attacks yesterday. The Shiite-Sunni fighting occurred after al-Sadr's Madhi Army militia raided a house in Nahrawan, 15 miles southeast of Baghdad, to free a fellow militiaman kidnapped by Sunni militants, said Amer al-Husseini, an aide to al-Sadr. The Mahdi Army freed the hostage and captured two militants during the raid, but was ambushed on its way out of Nahrawan, al-Husseini said. Police Maj. Falah al-Mohammadawi said the 15 deaths included 14 Madhi Army members and a policeman. He said 14 people were wounded, two policemen and the rest either militia members or civilians. No insurgent casualties were reported. The incident underscores tensions among hard-line elements in Iraq's rival reli- gious and ethnic communities at a time when the United States is struggling to promote a political process seen as key to calming the insurgency so that U.S. and other foreign troops can go home. JERUSALEM Israeli official wants Iran booted from U.N. 40 For nearly half a century the Institute for Defense AnalysesI been successfully pursuing its mission to bring analytic objectivityc understanding to complex issues of national security. As a not-for-p corporation operating three federally funded research and develo centers that serve the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint of Staff, the Unified Commands and Defense Agencies, we provid solid and exciting foundation for career growth and longevity. An through specialized analytic, technical and scientific talent, we ar moving steadily forward, confidently increasing our capabilities to the country's important security issues. 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