Indian news & views briefly

NEW YORK NOV 8. While the Indian authorities continue investigations into the former foreign minister Natwar Singh's kickbacks as documented by the Independent Inquiry Commission setup to investigate Iraq oil for food program, the Congress party lawyers have sent a letter to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

They are seeking information on basis of which former Indian foreign minister Natwar Singh's name was included in the list of "non-contractual" beneficiaries in the scandal ridden Iraqi oil for food program.

"The letter which was received Monday was forwarded to the Independent Inquiry Commission's office" the UN spokesperson, Marie Okabe, told reporters at a briefing Tuesday afternoon.

The Indian Ambassador and other mission officials have been in touch with the Inquiry Commission officials, the spokesperson said.

Asked whether the Inquiry Commission led by Paul Volcker would continue to function if any lawsuits were filed against it by the persons named by the commission, the Ms Okabe said "such questions can only be answered by the IIC."

As to whether IIC, which is expected to wind up its work at the end of November will stay in session, no UN official was able to answer the question definitively.

Mr. Singh was cited, among more than 133 Indian entities, in the IIC report which investigated accusations of abuse of the oil-for-food program. The program had allowed Iraq to sell some of its oil to meet civilian needs, despite United Nations sanctions imposed in 1990, after Iraq invaded Kuwait which barred Iraq from selling oil to other countries.

The IIC report found that the former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein had abused the program. In an appendix, the report charged that Mr. Singh and the Congress Party had received as "non contractual" beneficiaries eight million barrels of oil, that equals $480 million worth of crude oil at the present rate of approximately $60 a barrel.

Meanwhile the Indian express reported Tuesday that Foreign Minister Natwar Singh�s son, Jagat Singh, visited Amman in Jordan twice in 2001. On both occasions, his visit came within weeks of his friend Andaleeb �Andy� Sehgal depositing what the Paul Volcker report on the oil-for-food scandal calls illegal �surcharge payments� in the Jordan National Bank. On one occasion, Jagat flew from Delhi to Amman just a day after Sehgal flew to neighboring Dubai.

Jagat Siingh (Photo: Indian Express)

Sehgal and his firm Hamdan Export deposited a total of $748,540 (approx Rs 3.22 crore) in the Jordan bank that, the Volcker report says, reached the Saddam Hussein regime.

These payments were made on behalf of Masefield, the Swiss firm that lifted 1.9 million barrels of Iraqi oil of the 4 million barrels to which rights were obtained by Natwar Singh as per the Volcker report.

Natwar Singh said today that he would make a statement in Parliament on his being indicted by the Volcker report in the UN oil-for-food scandal. The latest revelation about his son�s Jordan trips means Singh will have a lot of explaining to do.

On Saturday, Sehgal had told The Indian Express that he had never traveled with Jagat Singh but consider their travel records and the schedule of �illegal surcharge payments� allegedly made by Sehgal on behalf of Masefield:

� Jagat Singh flew Royal Jordanian Airlines to Amman in January 2001.

� In February 2001, Sehgal flew there as well.

� According to Volcker Report�s Table 5, Sehgal deposited $60,000 in Jordan National Bank on March 13, 2001

In February 2001, Sehgal flew there as well.

� According to Volcker Report�s Table 5, Sehgal deposited $60,000 in Jordan National Bank on March 13, 2001.

� On July 5, Jagat Singh flew to Amman again.

� Just a day earlier, on July 4, Sehgal flew Emirates to Dubai.

� By that time, his Hamdan had already deposited $438,518 into the same bank on May 27, 2001 and $59,808 on June 11.

� Last payment by Hamdan: $190,214 on December 19, 2001 in Amman.

Incidentally, Masefield did not respond to the Volcker Committee�s notice even when it was told that it would be named in the final report, along with �non-contractual beneficiaries� including Natwar Singh and the Congress party.

A Masefield official in London, when contacted by The Indian Express today, said that �it was company policy not to speak to the media.�

Neither Natwar Singh nor Jagat Singh responded to several calls and messages.
However, in an interview to NDTV 24 X 7 tonight, Jagat Singh claimed he had no knowledge of Sehgal�s involvement. He made no mention of his Jordan trips and said he had gone to Iraq with his father as part of a Congress delegation and then for a function of the youth wing of Saddam�s Baathist party.

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NOV 7: Natwar Singh will step down as India's foreign minister during an inquiry into claims that he benefited from the UN's oil-for-food program for Iraq but will stay in the cabinet, it was announced.

Singh will remain in the cabinet as minister without portfolio and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will take over the post of foreign minister pending the outcome of the probe by a retired judge ordered earlier Monday..

DesPardes.com had reported earlier an analyst saying "it is possible that Congress may ask Natwar to resign until the dust settles down, just as BJP govt had asked George Fernandez to step down and made him rejoin after 'things settled down'..."

Monumental temple debuts in New Delhi
Delhi street scene

NEW DELHI, Nov 7: India's Muslim president, Sikh prime minister and Hindu nationalist opposition leader joined Sunday to open one of the biggest Hindu temples of modern times, a $45 million pink sandstone shrine to religious tolerance.

The Swaminarayan sect that built the temple -- the length of a soccer field and the height of a 12-story building -- runs another temple in Gujarat state, which was attacked by suspected Muslim militants in 2002, leaving 32 dead. Religious riots in the same state left more than 1,000 dead earlier that year.

Deity sought 'unity in diversity'

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and opposition leader L.K. Advani of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party joined in pushing open the door of the main hall of the Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple in New Delhi.

More than 7,000 sculptors built the colonnaded temple over five years. It sits on 234 pillars topped by nine domes and is bedecked by more than 20,000 statues of gods and goddesses. The presiding deity is Swaminarayan.

'Ours is a country of unity in diversity. This is the ideal preached by Swaminarayan,' Singh said. (AP)