From the SMH ….. 

‘Downer's memory at a loss over
wheat deal talks’
By Cynthia Banham and Marian
Wilkinson
March 28, 2006 

The Foreign Affairs Minister,
Alexander Downer, said yesterday he could not recall details of a
conversation he had last September with the head of the United Nations
investigation into the oil-for-food scandal, when he allegedly said AWB had no
option but to pay kickbacks if the company wanted to do business in Iraq. 

Nor could he recall the
"exact details" of a discussion with AWB's former managing director,
Andrew Lindberg, last June when he said the monopoly wheat exporter could
not be held responsible for what happened to the money it paid to Jordanian
trucking company Alia. 

At the time, the UN's inquiry
under Paul Volcker had strong evidence that AWB had funnelled almost $300
million in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime through Alia, in violation
of UN sanctions. 

The account of Mr Downer's
meeting with Mr Volcker and his officials appeared in yesterday's
Australian Financial Review.