Probes of alleged corruption in oil-for-food program clash

[question everything]

Probes of alleged corruption in oil-for-food program clash

By Judith Miller and Julia Preston
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

January 31, 2005

Separate corruption inquiries into the Iraq oil-for-food aid program have clashed, leading to difficult negotiations over information-sharing and access to a crucial witness, according to officials on both sides of the confidential talks between Justice Department officials and a U.N.-appointed commission.

Paul A. Volcker, chairman of the independent commission investigating charges of waste, fraud and mismanagement in the program, said in a telephone interview that his panel had not yet reached an agreement to share witnesses and documents with federal prosecutors in New York. The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, David Kelley, is leading a separate investigation.

"They want some things from us, and we want some access to certain people they have," Volcker said, adding that no sharing has taken place while the two sides seek "some kind of mutual understanding."

Kelley said both sides were pursuing the same goal of exposing corruption in the vast program, which is now defunct, but had "competing or conflicting interests" on how to proceed. He said that while his priority was to help Volcker, he was negotiating to make sure the commission would maintain the secrecy of any witnesses or evidence he made available, to avoid compromising his criminal inquiry.



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Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050131/news_1n31oilfood.html

[go west young man]

1. When they say investigations clash....

what pathetic Judith Miller means is they are trying to figure out how to not expose Cheney.

[NewInNewJ.]

2. Agree

How could anyone believe anything Judith Miller's says anyway.