Congress Investigates Syria's Role In $3.8 Billion in Illegal Oil Sales
BY BENNY AVNI - Staff Reporter of the Sun
July 27, 2005
United Nations - Syria profited from illicit Iraqi oil sales as part of the scandal-racked U.N. oil-for-food program, and some of the money may be financing the anti-democracy insurgency in Iraq, according to congressional investigators.
The House Foreign Relations Committee plans to conduct a hearing today on Damascus's role in oil for food, specifically detailing monetary gains by Syrian government bodies, companies, and individuals. Most of Syria's involvement was conducted illegally, outside the scope of the U.N. program, some through Syrian and Lebanese banks. Much of today's hearings will draw on findings of an investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service following the 2003 Iraq war. According to the IRS, during the final phase of oil for food, between the spring of 2000 and the start of the Iraq war in 2003, sales of Iraqi oil and petroleum products generated $3.8 billion in illegal revenues, much of which ended up in Syrian hands.
The public deserves to know Syria's role in the oil-for-food scandal, and there needs to be an accounting of those funds to ensure they aren't being used against us, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican of California, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said in a statement yesterday. Mr. Rohrabacher will run today's hearings along with Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican of Florida, who chairs the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia.
While many benefited illegally from oil for food, Syria is a different case, an aide to Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Yleem Poblete, yesterday told The New York Sun, because Syria is on the list of states supporting terrorism. Damascus supports Hezbollah and other regional terror organizations.
Let them investigate, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, Fayssal Mekdad, told the Sun yesterday when informed of the pending hearing Capitol Hill. He declined further comment.
Following the start of the 2003 Iraq war, IRS agents conducted interviews with officials of the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organization as well as Damascus officials, Syrian and Lebanese bankers, and others involved in Iraqi oil sales through Syria.
IRS documents seen by the Sun detail an elaborate scheme to conceal the sales, involving Syrian and Lebanese banks that processed revenues of Iraqi crude oil sales. The sale of Iraqi oil through Syria was allowed to continue by the United Nations and members of the U.N. Security Council committee overseeing oil sales, despite attempts by British and American officials to stop it.
Those sales accelerated during the final phase of oil for food, between the spring of 2000 and the war in March 2003, and, according to the IRS, Iraqi oil and petroleum products generated $3.8 billion in illegal revenues during that period. Syria and Iraq agreed that 60% of the crude oil payments would be deposited in the Commercial Bank of Syria in Damascus and 40% would be deposited in one of its subsidiaries, Syria-Lebanon Commercial Bank in Beirut.
Syria's defense minister, Mustapha Tlas, received a tribute payment in return for permitting the illegal trade between the two countries. Mr. Tlas's son Firas and other top Damascus officials such as the chief presidential bodyguard, Thualhima Shaleesh, a cousin of President Assad, were also involved in the scheme, according to the IRS.
According to the State Department, the Syrian government returned some of the money when it transferred $121 million to the Development Fund for Iraq. However, according to a written testimony prepared for today's hearing by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Dibble, $262 million remains in the Commercial Bank of Syria and is the topic of current negotiations between Damascus and Baghdad.
Separately, Iraq's defense minister, Saadoun al-Dulaimi, yesterday said Damascus was disregarding Iraq's complaints over infiltrators and said his government had evidence of at least three routes militants were using to enter the country from Syria, the Associated Press reported.
Syria's foreign minister, Farouk al-Sharaa, said that Mr. al-Dulaimi's allegations were baseless. Iraqi officials who made the accusations, he added, lack the credibility of free decision.