The Testimony
Mr. Chairman: On January 25, 2004 the Iraqi daily Al-Mada published a list of 270 individuals and entities who were beneficiaries of Saddam Hussein's oil vouchers. The Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI, translated the list from Arabic and made it available to non-Arabic readers on January 29.
In my presentation I will address five questions that we have frequently been asked:
First, what are these oil vouchers and how were they used?
Second, who were the beneficiaries?
Third, is the list authentic?
Fourth, what other means did Saddam Hussein use to subvert the Oil for Food Program?
Fifth, could the administrators of the Oil for Food Program have been unaware of the regime's subversion of the Program?
I shall now answer the questions briefly and in that order.
The Nature and Use of the Oil Vouchers
In May 2002, or two years before the oil vouchers achieved their present notoriety, MEMRI issued a special dispatch titled "Iraq Buys and Smuggles its Way out of UN Sanctions." [2] That dispatch catalogued techniques that were being used to subvert the Oil for Food Program, including the use of vouchers to buy friends.
In brief, Saddam Hussein granted oil vouchers to various beneficiaries - individuals as well as public and governmental entities - who could then sell them to oil dealers or agents operating from the Rashid Hotel in Baghdad. The agents would then sell the vouchers to oil companies which, in turn, would submit them to the State Oil Marketing Company or SOMO, to collect the oil. Both the beneficiary and the agent collected quick and handsome profits. A one million barrel voucher surrendered against $0.25 per barrel earned $250,000.
The Beneficiaries
The beneficiaries were from 52 countries and included 19 political parties, and numerous politicians and journalists. Russia led the way among countries, with 46 recipients for a total of about 2.5 billion barrels. Significant individual recipients include the president of Indonesia, the prime minister of Libya, the former prime minister of Yemen, a former French minister of interior, and Mr. Patrick Maugein who, according to French sources, is a financial supporter of French President Chirac.
Finally, the beneficiaries included the sons of the former Egyptian leader Gamal Abdul Nasser, the President of Lebanon Emil Lehoud, and the perennial Syrian minister of defense Mustafa Tlass.
