Cole Terms of Reference Widened to Include BHP and DFAT;ABC...

Cole Terms of Reference Widened to Include BHP and DFAT;
ABC Online;
Evidence tendered to the oil-for-food inquiry shows the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) told an AWB manager it had looked into the Jordanian trucking company Alia.

The inquiry has heard Alia was a conduit for payments from the wheat exporter to Saddam Hussein's regime.

In his statement, AWB executive Charles Stott says six years ago fellow staff told him the Australian Government and the UN had approved trucking fees AWB was paying for the inland transport of wheat.

Mr Stott says after a trip to Iraq in 2000 he talked to DFAT about the fees.

He says he asked for DFAT's approval for AWB to enter talks with Jordanian trucking companies to improve efficiency.

He says Jane Drake-Brockman from DFAT granted approval to proceed with the course of action proposed.

Mr Stott says Ms Drake-Brockman told him DFAT had looked into Alia.

DFAT has denied the allegations.

In a statement released today, the department rejects the allegations, saying the relevant officers have no recollection of being advised about AWB's use of Alia.

The inquiry evidence will raise further questions about when the Government became aware of the wheat exporters involvement in the scandal.

Suspicions confirmed

Former AWB Middle East manager Dominic Hogan has told the inquiry a trip to Iraq in 2001 confirmed his suspicions that the wheat exporter's trucking payments were going to Iraq.

Mr Hogan has been questioned about his diary notes on a trip to Iraq in May 2001.

He says during the visit he learned the trucking company Alia took a percentage of the transport fees, and then acted as a conduit to get the money to Iraq.

Mr Hogan said he interpreted the "after sales service fee" was being used to build silos and do up the Iraqi Grains Board office.

BHP deal

Mr Stott also told the Cole inquiry he assumed BHP Billiton was paying for a wheat shipment to Iraq worth $US5 million to win benefits from the Iraqis.

Mr Stott, the AWB group general manager of rural services, has been questioned about 20,000 tonnes of wheat delivered to Iraq in 1996.

He said a proposal for BHP to provide a humanitarian wheat shipment to Iraq came from the Ministry of Oil in Iraq.

Mr Stott said it was agreed BHP would pay AWB to ship wheat to Iraq and it had UN approval if the payment was made through a third party.

He told the inquiry he assumed BHP was making the shipment to win benefit from Iraq later on.

The inquiry's terms of reference were widened today to look at Tigris Petroleum and BHP's role in the oil-for-food scandal.

Parliament debate

Meanwhile in Parliament today, the Federal Opposition has accused the Howard Government of failing to stop Australian money paying for suicide bombers in Iraq.

Labor leader Kim Beazley accused the Government of deliberately ignoring AWB's payment of bribes to Saddam Hussein's regime.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer denied any knowledge, accusing the Opposition of overreacting.

The Opposition failed in a censure motion against the Government.

Dave R.