A former Australian intelligence officer yesterday said it was ``absolutely impossible'' the federal government didn't know about millions of dollars in alleged kickbacks paid to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein under the UN oil-for-food program.
A government inquiry is investigating whether Australia's monopoly wheat exporter, AWB Ltd., knowingly paid up to US$222 million in alleged bribes to secure valuable wheat deals in Iraq.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard's center-right government has repeatedly denied any knowledge of the alleged corruption, but a former officer with the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, Warren Reid, said the government would have been well aware of AWB's oil-for-food dealings.
``It's absolutely impossible that they didn't know,'' Reid said.
``In fact, if you look at the core part of the governmental system in Canberra, foreign affairs, defense ... the whole intelligence apparatus, that's geared to knowing these things,'' said Reid, who worked for the security agency for 10 years in Asia and the Middle East.
Any senior minister who wasn't aware of such high-level dealings wasn't doing his job and should be reprimanded, he added.
Originally the inquiry was called to examine whether AWB officials knowingly paid millions of dollars to a Jordanian trucking company that was part-owned by the Iraqi government.
The company, Alia, says it took the money but says it never moved Australian wheat into Iraq.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS