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Were Australians Cheating on Sanctions? Rep. Blind Eye

Econ101

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Labor claims US Democrats will launch new AWB inquiry



ABC News Online Australia

November 14, 2006



The Federal Opposition says the US Democrats will use their newly gained power in Congress to launch a new investigation into the AWB oil-for-food controversy.



Labor's foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd says the Republican-controlled Congress went soft on the Howard Government in its earlier inquiry as a pay-off for its commitment to the war in Iraq.



Mr Rudd says another probe will be devastating for Australian wheat farmers.



"They want some certainty restored to their industry and they're not getting certainty at present from the Howard Government," he said.



"This could all have been dealt with much earlier by the United States Congress.



"Instead Howard Government officials intervened to pull off the dogs, back two years ago to save John Howard's political hide."



In other developments:

The oil-for-food inquiry has revealed it now has clear documentary evidence about direct Iraqi Government requests for payments from Australia's grains trader.



Evidence shows direct Iraqi requests for AWB payment



The oil-for-food inquiry has revealed it now has clear documentary evidence about direct Iraqi Government requests for payments from Australia's grains trader.



Commissioner Terence Cole is heading the inquiry investigating $300 million worth of payments made by wheat exporter AWB to the former Iraqi regime in contravention of UN sanctions against Iraq.



The new evidence has been made public despite the completion of public hearings.



In 1999 the Iraqi Grains Board sent a fax to AWB asking when it was going to pay fees on a wheat shipment.



Another email from the front company Alia Trucking says the Iraqi transport department had calculated that AWB was not paying enough.



An email from whistleblower Mark Emons confirms he directly negotiated the sanction-busting fees with the former head of the Iraqi Grains Board.



Previously released material has implied rather than confirmed the direct involvement of the Iraqi Government.



Commissioner Cole is due to deliver his final report to the Government next week.



abc.net.au
 
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