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| Iraq |
| Saddam Says He Siphoned Billions |
| 2003-12-29 |
| Saddam Hussein has acknowledged depositing billions of dollars abroad before his ouster and has given interrogators the names of people who know where the money is, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council said in remarks published Monday. If true, that’ll make a whole lot of people nervous. The U.S.-appointed council estimates that the Iraqi dictator seized $40 billion while in power and is now searching for that amount deposited in Switzerland, Japan, Germany and other countries, Iyad Allawi told the London-based Arab newspapers Al-Hayat and Asharq al-Awsat. "Saddam has started to give information on money that has been looted from Iraq and deposited abroad," Allawi told Asharq al-Awsat. "Investigation is now concentrated on his relationship with terrorist organizations and on the money paid to elements outside Iraq." Allawi said Saddam, who has been questioned by American interrogators since his capture this month, gave names of people who know where the money is deposited and also know the location of arms and ammunition depots used by insurgents in attacks against the coalition forces and the Governing Council. Even if not true, saying so will make people try to move funds and stuff. That’ll make them easier to find. In similar remarks to Al-Hayat, Allawi said Saddam had confessed to "important matters," a reference to the smuggling of billions of dollars abroad. "We have asked international legal and specialized companies to follow up the money he (Saddam) has deposited in Switzerland, Germany, Japan and other countries which is estimated at around $40 billion under fictitious companies’ names," Allawi told Al-Hayat. Blabber mouth, or designated spokeman? We report, you decide. In Baghdad, Ahmed al-Bayak, another member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, said he was informed by council members that Saddam had started to talk about names of people inside Iraq who were carrying out attacks against U.S. forces. "But nothing about funds," said al-Bayak. Entifadh Qanbar, spokesman for Ahmed Chalabi, another council member, said Chalabi’s political party, the Iraqi National Congress, had its own information about Saddam’s funds before his arrest. "We don’t have new information on funds, and if we did we won’t be talking about this," he said. Well, you’d be the only one it seems. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #10 Lacking a sense of humor as I do, it occurred to me that $40 billion is almost half of what Congress signed off on for Iraqi reconstruction. If Sammy hadn't skimmed the cash, and he hadn't pissed at least as much away on arms and ammunition and palaces, Iraq would be the richest country in the area. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-12-29 9:09:25 PM |
| #9 This suggests another thought.. Saddam was worth $40 billion. Bill Gates is worth $50 billion. Maybe Billy-boy is giving a little consideration to the thought that, as he's not THAT much richer than Saddam, he might wake up one morning with the 82nd Airborne outside his front door wanting to talk to him about all of the customers he's annoyed these past twenty years? Now THERE'S a lovely thought. *grin* Ed. |
| Posted by: Ed Becerra 2003-12-29 7:06:22 PM |
| #8 It is important that we rigorously document and track the money back to where it is stored now. If it goes back to Swiss bank accounts, the Swiss Govt will need some serious public heat. This is the same as the Taliban aiding and abetting Al Q, which is like harboring terrorists. This neutrality stance is more of a crock of s--t, when a nation's banking system is in the middle of the equivalent of money laundering. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-12-29 4:27:26 PM |
| #7 I wonder if his wife(s) own 8 trillion pairs of shoes... |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2003-12-29 3:11:31 PM |
| #6 The Jews didn't have ICBMs to persuade the Swiss. :-) |
| Posted by: JFM 2003-12-29 3:07:18 PM |
| #5 Even if we identify all the accounts, I wouldn't get too hopeful that the money will be returned to Iraq. Remember, it's the Swiss holding the $$$. After acknowledging that they held (and profited from) some $12 billion of money looted from the Jews by Hitler, it was decades before any of it started to trickle back. Don't expect much speedier resolution here. |
| Posted by: Rivrdog 2003-12-29 2:47:25 PM |
| #4 It's the round-the-clock Brittney Spears videos that are doing the job. Could YOU resist? |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-12-29 1:03:04 PM |
| #3 The giggle juice must be working... |
| Posted by: Nick 2003-12-29 12:32:00 PM |
| #2 So, how hard do you need to suck on the hose to siphon billions? And does it taste as bad as gasoline? |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2003-12-29 9:56:41 AM |
| #1 Given the deep pockets, a lot of American lawyers are probably thinking how they could represent someone who can sue Saddam for wrongful death. |
| Posted by: mhw 2003-12-29 9:50:45 AM |