New York: Former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve and the head of the Inquiry Committee looking into the United Nation's tainted oil-for-food programme, Paul Volcker, has said the Congress Party is welcome to send a legal notice to the United Nations.
"They (Congress) are welcome to send a legal notice. The UN has certain privileges and immunities," he stated.
Volcker, the author of the report into the massive corruption in the UN oil-for-food programme during Saddam Hussein's regime, said the UN had an analysis of some of the cited cases in the report.
However he added in other cases they had listed the information indicated from Iraqi records.
"We didn't say what is right or wrong. We only stated what was there in the Iraqi records - whether there was denial, acceptance, if there was something in between or no answers," he added.
The Congress Party yesterday decided to issue a comprehensive legal notice to the UN and the Volcker Committee.
The notice demands full disclosure of the material on the basis of which the Inquiry Committee reached the 'unverified conclusion' that the party is a beneficiary in the Iraqi oil deal scam.
Sanjaya Baru, Spokesman, PMO said, "The Volcker Committee report, as it stands today, is insufficient to arrive at any adverse or definitive conclusion. The matter is under serious consideration and a decision will be announced shortly."
Paul Volcker said he was unaware that Natwar Singh was the Indian Foreign Minister.
Volcker said all corrupt officials and companies mentioned in the report including Natwar Singh were sent notices and asked to respond to his accusations.
The Oil-for-Food programme was set up in 1996 to allow Saddam Hussein's government to work around sanctions and sell some of Iraq's oil reserves in exchange for much-needed food, medicines and other essentials.
The 630-page report was ordered to probe into allegations that Saddam Hussein's government misused the programme to award contracts in exchange for bribes.
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