Iraq wants to go after companies involved in 'food for oil' program

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told the press on Monday that its Department of Justice will be sending a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State, so that a complaint on behalf of the Iraqi government and its people can be filed in  U.S. courts against foreign companies involved in corruption cases within the 'oil-for-food' program. The UN 'food-for-oil' was a humanitarian program  designed to help Iraqis survive international sanctions imposed on Saddam Hussein's regime after the invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

With a total worth of US$64 billion, and under UN control,  it had allowed Iraq to sell from 1996 to 2003, limited quantities of oil and to purchase goods in exchange for its population. However, the Iraqi government  corrupted the system and several billion dollars were misappropriated. The scandal came to light  in January 2004 and its former director Benon Sevan resigned from the UN in August 2005.

More than 2,200 companies (including Russian, French and Chinese) from over 60 countries were involved in the program's manipulations, according to a report by an independent inquiry commission headed by the former president of the U.S. Federal Reserve,  Paul Volcker.

The program was corrupted through over-invoicing or effecting sales on the side, particularly in the form of vouchers (for oil) given as gifts or as payment for imported goods without the knowledge of the UN.

A 2004 report on Fox News indicated that many in the program did not want the corruption to end:

One casualty was Ihasan Karim (search), the Iraqi official heading an inquiry into the Oil-for-Food program. On July 1, a bomb placed under his car exploded in Baghdad, killing him, and U.S. officials in Iraq told FOX News that they believe Oil-for-Food was the motive in the assassination