Dayal has all documents from Volcker, UN

Virendra Dayal, special envoy with the R S Pathak Inquiry Commission, today said that he has got all the documents from Mr Paul Volcker that he sought in connection with the Indian government's inquiry into the allegations made in the UN-appointed independent commission that investigated irregularities in the oil-for-food program for Iraq.

 

Volcker, the former head of the US Federal Reserve, was chairman of the UN commission looking into abuses of the program by former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

 

Volcker's report on the Iraqi program had named Indian external affairs minister K Natwar Singh and the Congress Party as non-contractual beneficiaries of Saddam Hussein's abuse of the oil-for-food program. Singh had to step down as minister following the revelations.

 

Talking to reporters in New

York today, Dayal, a former UN undersecretary general and retired Indian Foreign Service officer, said he is carrying back "all the relevant documents that he sought during his meeting with Mr Volcker last week.' However, he declined to comment on the nature of the documents or what they indicate.

 

'I do not want to prejudice the inquiry by commenting on the documents but I can tell you I have got everything I needed in my first meeting,' he said.

 

He said inquiry commission members would scrutinize the documents and evaluate the need if any further documents are required. Dayal is leaving for India tonight.

 

Dayal, who met UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Nov 21 to seek his help for the inquiry, said 'Both of them (Annan and Volcker) extended the fullest cooperation to me. They gave us whatever was possible in their capacity.'