French Oil Firms Denied Duelfer's Claim

France?s services companies denied claims of the former UNSCOM deputy head Charles Duelfer that the companies illicitly got financial benefits from the U.N. oil-for-food program.

Charles Duelfer alleged that French companies and individuals participated in a secret oil voucher program that helped Saddam Hussein circumvent U.N. sanctions.

Duelfer?s report said the names of American companies and individuals who may have been involved in oil deals weren't released because of U.S. privacy laws. It stated that Saddam's government had used the oil vouchers both to solicit kickbacks and to reward countries and individuals willing to cooperate with Iraq's political goals. Companies and individuals from Russia, France and China dominated the list.

The French Foreign Ministry said that the report lacks proof. It tried to plant in the seed of a doubt on Duelfer's report in its response. It said that only 8 percent of France's oil imports came from Iraq in 2001. The Ministry added that of 1,129 companies from 86 countries on a list of registered buyers under the oil-for-food program, only 20 were French.

"It is completely inaccurate to say that France had major commercial interests in Iraq before the war," the statement insisted.

The oil-for-food program had an account at French bank BNP Paribas, but France said the bank was located in the United States, subject to U.S. regulations, and was one of two charged with managing the program.

"The account was also inspected twice yearly by the Board of Auditors of the United Nations," the ministry statement said.