India's foreign minister shown the door (Oil For Food Scandal)

[IronLionZion]

I read that this is the first political leader removed from office for involvement in the scandal.

India's foreign minister shown the door
By Siddharth Srivastava

NEW DELHI - Saddam Hussein is in jail and facing trial, but the reverberations of his time at the helm in Iraq continue to ring.

It has cost Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh his job. Natwar is now designated as a minister without portfolio, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh taking direct charge of external affairs at a time when New Delhi has begun preparations to host US President George W Bush in a few months, which should add another episode in improved Indo-US relations.

Natwar's removal follows the report by a United Nations-appointed investigation headed by Paul Volcker, the former chair of the US Federal Reserve, which alleges that Natwar Singh was the beneficiary of illegal money from the Saddam regime.

According to the report, following the removal of UN sanctions that allowed Iraq to sell oil for food meant for humanitarian purposes, the Saddam dispensation set up a web of fictitious companies and charged a commission in exchange for food contracts. The kickbacks amounted to more than US$2 billion paid by thousands of firms around the world. More than a 100 Indian firms, including several prominent ones, have been named as happily acquiescing to Iraqi officials to seal the deals.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GK09Df03.html

Fcking oil...Everyone knew India gets oil from Iraq but this scandal blows. It's tough to get Islamic nations to sell your country oil when you are allied with Israel....unless you are the USA.

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. How many countries are involved in this?

Is India the biggest offender?

[enigma000]

2. Several

http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5098266&fsrc=RSS

Of those listed, the largest number are from other Arab countries. But several prominent Europeans appear as well. Many communist and left-wing parties from the former eastern bloc, including in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, appear on the list of beneficiaries. So do Charles Pasqua, a former interior minister of France, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the head of the far-right Liberal Democratic Party in Russia, and George Galloway, a British member of parliament who, having been kicked out of the Labour Party, now represents the anti-war and leftist Respect party in the House of Commons. Mr Galloway and Mr Pasqua responded with letters denying the allegations, which are included in the report

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/27/AR2005102700954.html

[IronLionZion]

3. Countries that have trouble getting oil

European nations, Russia, China, other Muslim nations without oil,

I find it interesting that India was to first to sack a leader for it. It could also be due to stuff we don't know about like his controversial political views. What's weird is that this asshole wants to send Indian troops to Iraq. :crazy: