Dr Burhan Mahmoud Al-Chalabi

20 April 2006

Q40  Sir Philip Mawer: Can I ask whether in the course of those meetings, either with Tariq Aziz or with the Ministry of Health, the question arose, ie, the meetings at which Mr Galloway was present, there was any discussion about assistance from the former Iraq regime to Mr Galloway to support his anti-sanctions efforts?

Dr Al-Chalabi: I have not heard anything.

Q41  Sir Philip Mawer: There was nothing said about these matters in your presence?

Dr Al-Chalabi: No.

Q42  Sir Philip Mawer: No request by Mr Galloway for money or support or assistance from the Iraqi regime?

Dr Al-Chalabi: No.

Q43  Sir Philip Mawer: Thank you. Can I, moving on but just completing a sort of tour of some of the people who have emerged in the course of these reports, ask when you first met George Galloway's wife, or estranged or former wife—I am not sure of her precise status at the moment—Dr Amineh Abu-Zayyad?

Dr Al-Chalabi: I have never met Dr Amineh Abu-Zayyad.

Q44  Sir Philip Mawer: She is not known to you?

Dr Al-Chalabi: No.

Q45  Sir Philip Mawer: Have you ever met a man called Ahmed al-Shanti at all?

Dr Al-Chalabi: No.

Sir Philip Mawer: Have you ever met a man called Tony Zureikat at all?

Dr Al-Chalabi: No, I have not.

Q46  Sir Philip Mawer: Awni, I think in—

Q47  Mr Healey: Fawaz's brother.

Dr Al-Chalabi: No, I have not. It does not ring a bell.

Q48  Mr Healey: No; he is Fawaz's cousin.

Q49  Sir Philip Mawer: He is his cousin. So none of these people is known to you?

Dr Al-Chalabi: No, they are not.

Q50  Sir Philip Mawer: Can I focus on the core allegation which is made in the US Senate and the UN Volcker Committee reports, which relates to a contract which you are said to have had under the UN oil-for-food programme? It is contract number M/07/83. As you know, the documentation which has been produced in support of those reports indicates that you were the beneficiary or the holder of such a contract. Is that correct?

Dr Al-Chalabi: That is incorrect.

Q51  Sir Philip Mawer: It is not correct?

Dr Al-Chalabi: It is not correct.

Q52  Sir Philip Mawer: What do you know in relation to that allegation? What is your response to that allegation?

Dr Al-Chalabi: When I was toying with the idea of the mercy flight I contacted charter aeroplanes or what-have-you because I wanted to know the kind of cost involved, and the cost was something like $450,000, quite a lot of money, so my initial idea was to try and raise the money from the Iraqi community, from what-have-you, but it became very clear that it was not possible so I attempted a different route, and I started to contact companies to see if we—through my family in Iraq I can offer them some assistance so that if we do business I will use the commission from those companies for the flight, so one of the contacts—I mean, I contacted the Chinese, who were—at the time there were some contracts for supplying the school with desks and tables, and I contacted some European pharmaceutical companies, and also I contacted the oil company. I was really trawling with my nets to see who was going to respond, but, I mean, the idea that I had a contract—I have never had a contract from SOMO.

Q53  Sir Philip Mawer: What led you to contact the oil company? You are talking about Fortum?

Dr Al-Chalabi: Fortum, yes.

Q54  Sir Philip Mawer: What was the nature of your previous relationship with them which prompted you to get in touch with them?

Dr Al-Chalabi: I tried a number of companies. Fortum—I think I knew one of the traders there and I asked them if they are interested in—are they lifting oil from Iraq, and they said they had tried many times and they had not been successful, but they also said at the time they are working with some people so they do not need any help, so I said, "Well, look: if nothing works out can you contact me and I will see if I can be of assistance?"

Q55  Sir Philip Mawer: So your argument—let me just be very clear about this—is that you knew…..

Dr Al-Chalabi: Purely an agent, a commission agent.

Q56  Sir Philip Mawer: Are you saying then that you had no interest at all in the contract that I have referred to, M/07/83?

Dr Al-Chalabi: Sir Philip, I am an individual. To qualify to lift oil you have to be an oil company, you have to have, you know, a line of credit, you have to have a shipyard. It is the whole idea….

Q57  Sir Philip Mawer: So how do you explain then the commission payments which it is said were made to you?

Dr Al-Chalabi: I was a commission agent. I was a commission agent to them, you know, like all other agents who work for companies. They pay you commission for your services.

Q58  Sir Philip Mawer: And your services were what?

Dr Al-Chalabi: When they called me again and they said, well, they have tried their other contacts, first of all I advised that basically, if they want to have the attention from the Iraqi Government, then it is vital and it is important that they declare their position vis-à-vis the sanctions regime, something they had not done before. I think they talked about it among themselves and they eventually, I understand, sent a communication via, or directed to the ministry, saying basically they oppose the sanctions. Then, when I was in Baghdad for the flight, whenever I saw people within the Foreign Ministry or the people around Tariq Aziz, and people asked me what was going on, how are they going to raise the funds, I said, "I am working with a few ideas and I am, you know, helping this company, helping this company, helping that company", so I made the word known that if these companies get any contracts then there will be commission which I will be using for a flight, so I was a commission agent.

Q59  Sir Philip Mawer: So do I understand your explanation to be, and tell me if I have got this right, that you had in mind the objective of the humanitarian flight. You went to Baghdad to get clearance for the flight.

Dr Al-Chalabi: Because, you remember, at that time the Iraqis made it very clear that if any flights seek the approval of the Sanction Committee then they will not entertain it because they did not recognise the Sanction Committee's authority on the Iraqi air space. I wanted to clarify this basically. If it is a maiden flight I have to get the Sanction Committee approval, will the flight still be allowed.