Paul Volcker, head of the Inquiry Committee probing irregularities in Iraqi oil sales under the Oil-for-Food programme during Saddam Hussein's regime in 2001, has opened a Pandora's box of sorts.
The report has named External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh as one of the beneficiaries besides the party he belongs to, the Congress.
The Congress has slammed the report and announced that it would issue a legal notice to the United Nations and the Enquiry Committee for tarnishing its image.
And despite immense pressure from the opposition parties and coalition allies, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh refused to ask Natwar to step down, saying that the facts mentioned in the UN inquiry into Iraq's oil-for-food programme were 'insufficient'" to arrive at any 'adverse conclusion' against him.
Meanwhile, Volcker is unfazed by the Congress' threat to send him and the UN legal notices.
"The UN has certain privileges and immunities. And we also in some cases have the analysis but in some cases we certainly listed the information indicated from Iraqi records," he said.
Natwar Singh (Centre).
Photograph: Jay Mandal/On Assignment
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