Iraqi media on Oil For Food

The Iraqi daily, Al-Mada, discusses the Oil For Food scandal. Some of the beneficiaries were connected to terrorism.

he names of some oil voucher recipients stand out. One such person is Mawlana Abd Al-Manan who was allocated a total of 43.2 million barrels, most of it lifted by the Swiss branch of the Russian company Lukoil. One shipment was lifted by "Jordan Grain," whose name is unusual.

The intriguing part about Al-Manan is a reference made about him by the Iraqi intelligence service in a letter dated September 15, 1999. The letter referred to an instruction, delivered by phone, by "His Excellency the Director of Intelligence" to M5/15/2 instructing him to host "the Bangladeshi Mulana Muhammad Abd Al-Manan and his son Muhammad Mu'een at the Rashid Hotel in Baghdad at the expense of the Mukhabarat." [4]

Another person who was directly involved in terrorism is Abu Al-Abbas, who was allocated a total of 11.5 million barrels, some of which was lifted by Vilma Oil Consultant, a Spanish company. Abu Al-Abbas has also sold 1.5 million barrels through Ayad Ammora and Partnership (Syria), which is also listed as a recipient of vouchers for 18 million barrels.

Abu Al-Abbas was first mentioned in a "top secret and personal" letter (No.110/2/43 of 25 January 1993) from the Iraqi intelligence service to the secretary of the president of the republic. The letter listed the terrorist organizations that could be employed by Iraq to carry out sabotage and terrorism activities against American interests in the Arab world.

Yet the Democrats continue to insist that there were no ties between Sadaam and terorism and that Sadaam did not represent a threat to the US.