Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

UN

Ex-Scania managers charged over Iraq deal

Two former managers of truck maker Scania were on Wednesday indicted on charges of violating the UN sanctions against Saddam Husseins's regime in Iraq, the Swedish Ministry for Justice said Wednesday.

Published: 15 November 2012 08:36 CET

“According to the indictment, the company was aware of kickbacks, paid and promised to be paid by front companies it hired, to the Iraqi regime, which was in violation of the sanctions that applied at the time,” the prosecutor said in a statement.

The alleged incidents took place between 2001 and 2003. In accordance with Swedish law, the men’s names have not been released.

Scania said the company had not studied the charges in detail. One of the men was now retired, while the other no longer held an executive position with the company, it said.

A spokesman, Hans-Åke Danielsson, told AFP that Scania would contest the charges and that the company “hasn’t paid any bribes to anybody, and hasn’t asked anyone to do so.”

Sweden is investigating around 15 groups suspected of breaching the UN “Oil for food” programme.

But so far charges have only been pressed against Scania, which in 2009 re-opened a plant in Iraq that was shuttered during the 2003 war, and against Volvo.

The “Oil for food” programme between 1996 and 2003 allowed Baghdad to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian aid and food, in the wake of the sanctions that were imposed against the country after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Millions of dollars were siphoned out of the programme by the Iraqi regime.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

'The war must end now': UN Sec-Gen meets Swedish PM in Stockholm

After a bilateral meeting with Magdalena Andersson on the security situation in Europe, Guterres warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to a global food crisis that would hurt some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

“It is causing immense suffering, destruction and devastation of the country. But it also inflames a three-dimensional global crisis in food, energy and finance that is pummelling the most vulnerable people, countries and economies,” the Portuguese diplomat told a joint press conference with Andersson.

He stressed the need for “quick and decisive action to ensure a steady flow of food and energy,” including “lifting export restrictions, allocating surpluses and reserves to vulnerable populations and addressing food price increases to calm market volatility.”

Between the two, Russia and Ukraine produce around 30 percent of the global wheat supply.

Guterres was in Stockholm to take part in the Stockholm 50+ conference, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.

The conference, which was held on the suggestion of the Swedish government in 1972 was the first UN meeting to discuss human impacts on the global environment, and led to the establishment of the UN Environment Program (UNEP).

At the joint press conference, Andersson said that discussions continued between Sweden and Turkey over the country’s continuing opposition to Sweden’s application to join the Nato security alliance.

“We have held discussions with Turkey and I’m looking forward to continuing the constructive meetings with Turkey in the near future,” she said, while refusing to go into detail on Turkey’s demands.

“We are going to take the demands which have been made of Sweden directly with them, and the same goes for any misunderstandings which have arisen,” she said.

At the press conference, Guterres condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine as “a violation of its territorial integrity and a violation of the UN Charter”.

“The war must end now,” he said.

Url copied to clipboard!