01-31-2004, 01:50 AM
<b>BJP wants probe into Saddam's to Congress</b>
AFP[ SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2004 12:11:05 AM ]
NEW DELHI : The BJP on Friday demanded an inquiry into Iraqi media reports that the Congress had received free oil from former leader Saddam Hussein as a gift for its support for his rule.
"There should be a full inquiry into this," said BJP spokesman V K Malhotra. "We demand an inquiry into this. Who paid the bribe, who got it? The report mentions the Congress."
A story in the Baghdad-based Al-Mada newspaper said that Saddam had rewarded 200 of his leading supporters abroad by giving them millions of barrels of crude oil. An Iraqi government official on Sunday confirmed the story.
Al-Mada also published a list of oil contracts passed by the State Oil Organisation (SOMO) that included the names of around 200 people, political organisations and religious figures whom it said received free crude.
The Congress received a million barrels of crude, it alleged.
AFP[ SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2004 12:11:05 AM ]
NEW DELHI : The BJP on Friday demanded an inquiry into Iraqi media reports that the Congress had received free oil from former leader Saddam Hussein as a gift for its support for his rule.
"There should be a full inquiry into this," said BJP spokesman V K Malhotra. "We demand an inquiry into this. Who paid the bribe, who got it? The report mentions the Congress."
A story in the Baghdad-based Al-Mada newspaper said that Saddam had rewarded 200 of his leading supporters abroad by giving them millions of barrels of crude oil. An Iraqi government official on Sunday confirmed the story.
Al-Mada also published a list of oil contracts passed by the State Oil Organisation (SOMO) that included the names of around 200 people, political organisations and religious figures whom it said received free crude.
The Congress received a million barrels of crude, it alleged.