US denies role in naming of Natwar in Volcker report

The United States on Monday rejected the impression that it had a role in former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh being named in the Volcker report, saying that it was a United Nations Committee and Washington had nothing to do with it.

"The Volcker report has to be seen in perspective. It was commissioned by the UN and its terms of reference had been decided by the UN," US Ambassador David C Mulford told reporters in New Delhi. He said "some evidence" had been collected in Iraq, which gave details about Iraq's oil-for-food programme.

"It was a separate process and the US had nothing to do with it," the envoy said. There have been suggestions that Natwar Singh has been named in the report as being a "non-contractual beneficiary" in the oil-for-food programme as he has had pro-Iraq stance.

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