This from ABC news at 1:44pm:Australia's wheat exporter AWB has...

This from ABC news at 1:44pm:

Australia's wheat exporter AWB has some rare good news today after sealing deals overnight to sell 1.4 million tonnes of wheat to four countries.

AWB is not disclosing the value of the contracts, which include a 500,000 tonne sale to India and smaller purchases by Iran, Kuwait and Yemen.

It says these are new markets for Australian wheat and denies the troubles facing the company have been used to bargain down the price.

Iraq is now refusing to deal with AWB because of allegations the wheat exporter paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein and last week was locked out of a 350,000 tonne sale to Iraq.

Despite fears it faced a further backlash, AWB International's Ian Donges says the new sales show it is business as usual for the company.

"There's no doubt today's announcement is a very positive story for the sales program for the '05 pool year," he said.

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