http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4759938/
Russia against independent UN Oil for Food investigation.
an excerpt--
The Associated Press
Updated: 6:18 p.m. ET April 16, 2004
Russia said Friday it strongly opposes a U.N. resolution endorsing an investigation of the U.N. oil-for-food program which diplomats say former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker is insisting on before agreeing to chair the inquiry.
Russia's Deputy Ambassador Gennady Gatilov said a letter from the Security Council to Secretary-General Kofi Annan on March 31 pledging cooperation with the inquiry into allegations of corruption and urging all countries to do likewise was sufficient for the panel to start work.
"We don't mind for the secretary-general to appoint the commission, but we don't see the need to support his decision in the form of a resolution," Gatilov told The Associated Press.
Russian companies will undoubtedly come under scrutiny in any oil-for-food investigation because they were major buyers of Iraqi oil and major suppliers of humanitarian goods to the program. It allowed the former Iraqi regime to sell unlimited quantities of oil provided the money went primarily to buy humanitarian goods and pay reparations to victims of the 1991 Gulf War.
Gatilov said Russia doesn't want "to look backwards into the history, and to stir up the old issue of the humanitarian program, which is closed." He also said creating the panel isn't "strictly speaking the issue of the Security Council" because it doesn't relate to maintaining international peace and security.
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Opinions? Does it appear Russia wants to hide dirty laundry?
What legitimate reasons could they have for their opposition to an independent review?
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