Volcker Report: India gets documents

     New Delhi: Virendra Dayal, the Indian Government-appointed Special Envoy who is looking into the allegations made in the Volcker Report, has received all essential documents from the Volcker Committee. Wrapping up a week-long visit to New York under New Delhi's instructions, Dayal is now expected to hand over all documents to Indian investigating agencies, and only after they scrutinise it, will the Government decide the next course of action, including whether other countries allegedly involved in the 2001 Iraq Oil for Food scam need to be contacted.

      "The Committee was convinced that the documents on which it had based its findings were genuine, but Indian investigators will examine every aspect while coming to the final conclusion," said Dayal. He, however, said he had enough to get to the truth about allegations that Indian entities had benefited illegally from the UN's oil for-food-program in Iraq. Dayal told reporters shortly before returning home that India at present was not working with any other country against whose officials including from the Enforcement Directorate allegations were made, adding that New Delhi is capable of holding an independent inquiry of its own. When asked when the inquiry would be completed, Dayal said he expected the Committee to be functional till at least till the end of March 2006. He also added that he had received full co-operation from Paul Volcker as well as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. "I do believe that the Volcker committee and the UN Secretary General, realising the gravity of our purpose, responded with great alacrity and helpfulness. I would like to thank them," said Dayal. The names of Congress and Singh were included by the Volcker Committee in the list of "non contractual" beneficiaries who were allocated oil vouchers, part of which they had allegedly cashed. Besides, 129 Indian companies were included in the list of some 2,200 firms worldwide who paid bribes to the Saddam Hussein Regime in 2001 to get contracts for supply of humanitarian goods.

Parliament adjourns over Volcker report

     Meanwhile, the Lower House of Parliament adjourned for the day on Thursday following disruptions by the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which sought the resignation of former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh as he was named as a beneficiary in the UN-sponsored Oil-for-Food programme for Iraq in 2001. Former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker had, in a report, said that many political parties and politicians, including the Congress party and Natwar Singh, were "non- contractual beneficiaries" of the 64 billion dollar deal. While the report did not ascribe any motives for the allocations, witnesses in other similar transactions said politicians had been rewarded for backing the Saddam Hussein Government. The Congress-led UPA Government has since been battling furious protests by the opposition parties, which have accused it of harbouring corrupt politicians. The Government was forced to order a probe and remove Singh as the country's foreign minister. He was, however, retained as a Minister without Portfolio.

     Led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the opposition has termed the ongoing probe an eyewash, saying Natwar Singh's continuance as a Cabinet minister will cloud the investigative proceedings. "The House can function only if Sonia Gandhi and Natwar Singh resign. It cannot run till then," said VK Malhotra, BJP Deputy Leader. Parliamentary Affairs Minister PR Dasmunshi said the Government was ready to discuss the Volcker Committee findings and said it can even start straight away. Both Natwar Singh and the Congress have been named in the report. Singh, who has been the first political casualty of the explosive report, has termed the allegations as "outrageous". "In the event of not allowing the house to function smoothly, I adjourn the house till 11 a.m. tomorrow, that is November 25," Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said amid shouts from the opposition members demanding Singh's resignation. A former U.N. official from India, Virendra Dayal, has also been roped in as a special envoy to gather relevant material regarding the involvement of Indian entities and individuals. The Oil-for-Food program, which began in 1996 and ended in 2003, aimed to ease the impact on ordinary Iraqis of U.N. sanctions, imposed when Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait in 1990. Under the scheme, Iraq was allowed to sell oil to buy food, medicine and many other goods. The U.N. report said that some 2,200 companies made illicit payments totaling 1.8 billion dollars to Saddam's government under the program.