Mr Tony Zureikat

20 December 2005

Q740  Sir Philip Mawer: Were you party to any contracts with Fawaz which were in any way in breach of the UN sanctions regime?

Mr Zureikat: No.

Q741  Sir Philip Mawer: Fine.

Mr Zureikat: We did one contract which was fibreglass pipes under the Syrian Protocol. It was a corrosion-free material they wanted to manufacture because they could not buy steel all the time. Iraq has very salty soil and in most areas there is a lot of corrosion. We won the contract, supposedly under the Jordanian Protocol, but they did not have enough money under the Jordanian Protocol so they switched it to the Syrian Protocol. They had to get a Syrian company to sign it, so Fawaz got a Syrian company to sign it. This is a material made in India. To do the same material in Italy, the extrusion to do the fibreglass pipes would be five or six million but to do it with the Indians, to copy the same machinery, would be 2.5 million. This was strictly a water pipe, it has never been illegal or deregulated because at some point it was under the Memorandum of Understanding. Because they wanted to use the money from the Memorandum of Understanding for something else and they had money in Syria, they switched it to the Syrian Protocol. We never cashed in because we sent the Syrian guy a bill for 120, because I executed five per cent from the contract, which was from 2.5 equals 125,000, and the Syrian people took that receipt from me and I do not know what they did with it, they cashed in the 2.5 million completely, plus my 125,000.

Q742  Sir Philip Mawer: What I understand you to be saying is that you were involved in that contract through the Syrian Protocol but that was not contrary to any UN sanctions regime?

Mr Zureikat: No.

Q743  Sir Philip Mawer: Moreover, the Syrians took all the profit, including your share.

Mr Zureikat: Yes. That is why I am here, otherwise they will tear me into a thousand parts, Fawaz and George Galloway. They would eat me alive if they had one single point to point at me.

Q744  Sir Philip Mawer: You are saying there is nothing that they could point at you?

Mr Zureikat: Nothing they can point at me at all.

Q745  Sir Philip Mawer: You were about to talk to me a bit more about Mariam and the $100 and the Mariam Appeal and what you know of it in relation to this matter?

Mr Zureikat: I woke up that morning and I found the box. I prepared breakfast, or whatever. I was leaving the yard of that house and Mariam's dad was standing outside looking for Fawaz. I noticed the guy because I had been in his house along with George taking pictures, the one I sent to Stuart. I met him once. The guy was keen and sad and broke, he wanted money. He said, "I am here, I want 100 bucks." I said, "What 100 bucks?" He said, "This is for me and my family, $100 a month." I said, "Before I give you the money on behalf of Fawaz I have got to call Fawaz." I had a satellite phone and I called Fawaz. Fawaz went crazy on the other end because this guy was talking to the news media about George Galloway. I never saw the interview but it turned out he did speak to the media. Fawaz told me, "Tell him to shut up. To secure his $100 a month he has got to shut up and not talk to the news media." He told me, "Don't give him $100, I will make sure he gets it." I told the guy, "I will give you 5,000 Iraqi dinar from me and Fawaz said you will continue to get your money and he will find a way to contact you but don't speak to the news media." That was it.

Q746  Sir Philip Mawer: You were telling me that story of that incident to illustrate your own knowledge of the Mariam Appeal and its relationship with the contracts and so on.

Mr Zureikat: Yes.

Q747  Sir Philip Mawer: To sum it up, virtually in the words you were using before, you are saying that the Mariam Appeal was a front for the commercial activities of Fawaz and George. Is that what you are saying?

Mr Zureikat: Yes. They did the show on the bus and the tour. There were not any further shows or acts. They took this girl to show her to the world and they got money from Sheikh Zaid. They did collect some money because of that show. They brought the bus just to show the world and Saddam that they could do something. The Mariam Appeal, like I said, was not just a front for the business, it was a passport visa for George to keep going to Iraq. He had something there. He had a case, a message, a fight against the sanctions, against blah-blah-blah. All of the lies he did because of the Mariam Appeal. What did they do to Mariam? They took the girl, got publicity out of her and threw 100 bucks every month to her parents.

Q748  Sir Philip Mawer: Do you think Mr Galloway's motives in what you have described were entirely commercial or do you think he was also motivated in any sense by political concern about sanctions and their effect on the Iraqi people and so on?

Mr Zureikat: No, it was just a road he took for publicity. He targeted the people of the Middle East mostly, he targeted the poor, to show them that he was an activist. There were two purposes. Once Fawaz told me, "If the war does not go through I will be the most powerful person in the Middle East", Fawaz would be the most powerful person in the Middle East. Before the war, Fawaz was working with Rolls-Royce from here on a huge deal with Iraq.

Q749  Sir Philip Mawer: Was working with who, sorry?

Mr Zureikat: Rolls-Royce.

Q750  Sir Philip Mawer: Rolls-Royce, forgive me.

Mr Zureikat: And Rover. They wanted to cars, they wanted to get stuff. George Galloway assured Tariq Aziz they would stop the war from happening. At the last second, the last three or four months, they started targeting English companies, corporates, such as Rolls-Royce and others, to do business and show them the millions and billions they need as manufacturers. I think the deal was US$300 million or £300 million of equipment to be delivered to Iraq. Fawaz took the agreement from Saddam Hussein and Fawaz took the agency to do so and Saddam said, "No, bring me an English man to sign." Fawaz said he called Galloway and said, "Send me a blonde guy to sign the contract and Saddam will give you the job." They were very, very close. That was 300 million euros, dollars or pounds to form with English companies such as Rolls-Royce, Rover, and I do not know who else. Also, a company that makes tractors for agriculture. Saddam was willing to buy anything because Galloway convinced him economically if we put pressure on Blair we will pull him down, as major corporates in England, major manufacturers. He was negotiating that. You can double-check with Rolls-Royce. I forget the names, at that time I was not taking notes.

Q751  Sir Philip Mawer: Was one of them Denis, a fire engine manufacturer?

Mr Zureikat: Probably.

Q752  Sir Philip Mawer: It does not ring a bell? It is a well-known fire engine manufacturer. Denis?

Mr Zureikat: I think so. Rolls-Royce was one, I think Denis, Rover. Maybe fire trucks, yes. It was fire trucks, I am sure. I looked at the email once. It was more than one product. I am sure fire trucks, Denis maybe.

Q753  Sir Philip Mawer: Fire trucks are the thing that they manufacture or are most well known for.

Mr Zureikat: It was fire trucks, fire engines, generators, cars, you name it. George convinced the Iraqis, "You sign this deal and I will put pressure on economically from major corporates in London to stop or to prevent Britain, or to stop Britain's support of the US."

Q754  Ms Barry: But the contract was never signed?

Mr Zureikat: Never signed because Saddam refused that Fawaz signed it, he wanted a blonde guy. He wanted an English guy to come and sign it.

Q755  Sir Philip Mawer: And the English guy did not get there in time before the war broke out?

Mr Zureikat: Exactly. Fawaz was in Britain just before he got arrested. He was here.

Q756  Sir Philip Mawer: Immediately prior to returning to Jordan where he was arrested just before the war?

Mr Zureikat: Yes. He was working on this. His nephew, his name is Yanal Zureikat, was part of the company formed here in London. Beside the TV station there was another company that was here.

Q757  Sir Philip Mawer: Can you give us that name again?

Mr Zureikat: Yanal. He is a US citizen. His full name is with Steve Groves. As a matter of fact, two days before the election in Iraq they supplied a contract for US$30 million paid by the US Government which was Fawaz's money. It was his nephew's name on the contract but Fawaz's money.

Q758  Sir Philip Mawer: We have got the name for the record?

Mr Zureikat: Yanal. Yanal is an American born citizen. He is his nephew from his sister, with an address in Orlando, Florida.

Q759  Ms Barry: I was just wondering what you think prompted the authorities to arrest Fawaz when they did and what they had found out?

Mr Zureikat: It was not just Fawaz, there were a few of them. They were active in the Iraqi regime. This was stupid because I think this order came from the Americans to try to draw out more inside information about the regime.