Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (78926)	3/2/2003 2:34:28 AM
From: KLP	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Well, CBS last night says: Where Are Saddam's Billions? February 28, 2003 cbsnews.com Should he flee an allied invasion, life on the lam would be pretty cushy for Saddam Hussein. A financial investigator estimates the Iraqi dictator’s multibillion-dollar personal wealth stashed around the world will grow by $2.5 billion this year alone. The investigator appears in Steve Kroft’s 60 Minutes report on Hussein’s hidden assets to be broadcast Sunday, March 2, at 7 p.m. ET/PT. John Fawcett’s investigation of Hussein’s money traces assets estimated at between $10 and $20 billion, mostly skimmed from the sales of Iraqi oil. His holdings include American magazines, such as Elle, Car and Driver and Women’s Day, through stock owned in a parent company, which was first reported by 60 Minutes in 1991. It’s money that really belongs to all Iraqis, but Hussein controls it, “directed to wherever Saddam wants to direct it. It could be his own bank account, his nest egg if he gets chased out of Iraq,” Fawcett tells Kroft. The assets are hidden but the source of the revenue is in the open. “This is oil and to smuggle any quantity of it, you can see it,” says Fawcett. So it’s no secret that trucks – in long lines clearly visible to the CIA – carry Iraqi oil into Turkey and Jordan while some gets piped into Syria, all against U.N. sanctions. What’s not as well known, Fawcett says, is that Hussein also makes money from the U.N.-sanctioned Iraqi oil sales, revenues from which go in U.N. accounts to provide humanitarian aid for Iraqis. “Most of the contracts appear to have kick-backs. If someone wants to get a contract with the Iraqi government, they have to kick money back into the Iraqi government – outside of the U.N. bank accounts,” Fawcett tells Kroft. The kickbacks have reportedly kept Western oil companies from buying the U.N.- sanctioned oil directly from Iraq, so Hussein uses middlemen, says Fawcett. “[Companies] are established just to buy Iraqi oil and kick back money to it. Some are out of Liechtenstein, Switzerland.” Switzerland, with its banking privacy laws, is where much of Hussein’s money is probably hidden. People in the Swiss government told 60 Minutes that they believe Hussein still has operatives in Geneva and that he has a secret financial network in place there. The Swiss official in charge of investigating such illegal assets has heard the rumors, but isn’t convinced. “I heard information about some businessmen who were involved in dealings [with Iraq]…but for the moment, we have no confirmation,” Jacques de Watteville tells Kroft. Fawcett, however, is sure. “I don’t think he’s looking very hard. There’s certainly a lot of activity in Switzerland vis-à-vis Iraq,” he says. ©MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (78926)	3/2/2003 2:39:37 AM
From: KLP	Respond to of 281500

And then there's this: Saddam using UN to rake in billions By Douglas Farah and Colum Lynch in Washington and New York September 19 2002 Saddam Hussein and his inner circle will make more than $US2billion ($3.65billion) this year by exploiting the United Nations' oil-for-food program and running extensive smuggling operations, a new report says. The report, by a human rights group, says Saddam's illicit income has grown steadily since the oil-for-food program began in 1996, from $US471million then to $US2.2billion last year and up to $US2.5billion this year. The Iraqi leadership generates more than $US1billion of that revenue through the illegal sale of oil to Syria, United States officials say. It makes a further $US1billion from smuggling and kickbacks on its multi-billion-dollar trade in oil and humanitarian goods, diplomats say. The figures are consistent with estimates by US and European governments. The report, by the non-profit Coalition for International Justice, is one of the most comprehensive completed on the size and sources of Saddam's money. Sources of Revenue for Saddam & Sons: A Primer on the Financial Underpinnings of the Regime in Baghdad looks at one of the primary ways in which Saddam, despite 11 years of international sanctions, has kept his grip on power by acquiring the wealth necessary to buy the loyalty of cronies and finance a weapons development program and an internal security apparatus. Under the UN-mandated oil-for-food program, Iraq is allowed to export oil but must use the revenue for the purchase of food, medicine and other humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people. Iraq makes about $US6billion a year under the program. But, the report says, Saddam and his family take in billions more by skimming off the program and other smuggling operations. The report is highly critical of the UN and its member states for failing to cut the flow of money. "The international community, while continuing to express its increasing concern over Saddam's weapons programs, has long been aware of Saddam's revenue stream but has nevertheless turned a blind eye, for a range of reasons," the report says. The report says the smuggling and illicit finances are largely handled by Saddam's two sons, Udai and Quasi, who are rivals in the internal battles to succeed their father. Udai, the elder son, has been increasingly marginalised in his father's business dealings while Quasi's role has grown in recent years, the report says. "While both men have shown themselves to be brutal, ruthless and remorseless, they have very different styles, rarely see eye-to-eye and are long-time rivals in their respective quests for power," it says. The report and UN and US analysts say Udai, 38, has long dominated his father's financial network by controlling oil smuggling routes and business. In contrast, Quasi, 36, exerts control over Iraq's military, intelligence and security apparatus. The balance of power has tilted toward Quasi, these sources say, because the younger brother has channelled his money into consolidating his power while Udai has become increasingly violent and hedonistic. Among the countries that have profited most from illicit dealings with Saddam, the report says, are Turkey and Syria. In both cases, the report says, the UN tolerates the breach of sanctions because they are viewed as crucial allies to the US and other countries. The Washington Post This story was found at: smh.com.au