Who benefited from the lucrative oil vouchers issued by Saddam?
The Iraqi dictator targeted countries and individuals who could help him evade economic sanctions and eventually overturn them. Officials from France, Russia and China were favored but many others also were named in the U.S. report as potential beneficiaries of the practice, which was not necessarily illegal. Among those whose names were found by the inspectors: Benon Sevan, the former chief of the oil-for-food program; Charles Pasqua, former French interior minister; President Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia, and Russian ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Many of those named quickly denounced the report as containing unfounded allegations, because Iraqi records don’t necessarily prove that Saddam’s entreaties were accepted or that favors were done. The inspectors also listed American companies and individuals. Their names were omitted from the officially released report because of U.S. privacy laws. Q: How much money did Saddam make in evading the sanctions, including oil-for-f
