India's foreign minister was stripped of his post yesterday over allegations that he benefited from the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq, an official said.
Foreign Minister Natwar Singh is the first political casualty of a UN Independent Inquiry Committee report released two weeks ago that revealed massive corruption around the globe in the humanitarian prog-ram that was meant to help the sanctions-hit Iraq in the aftermath of the first Gulf War in 1991.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who summoned Natwar Singh for an hour-long meeting, has named him minister without portfolio, said an official in the Prime Minister's Office. He spoke on condition of anonymity.
Singh left the prime minister's residence, where the meeting was held, without speaking to reporters. He simply waved at them before getting into his car.
The independent inquiry, headed by former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, has accused more than 2,200 companies and prominent politicians worldwide of colluding with Saddam Hussein's regime to bilk the oil-for-food program of US$1.8 billion in kickbacks and illicit surcharges.
It named Singh and the ruling Congress party as "non-contractual beneficiary."
Hours earlier, late on Sunday, the government also named an envoy to investigate the credibility of Volcker's report, indicating that it is not entirely convinced about its veracity.
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