U.N. audit recommends that the U.S. repay millions to Iraq

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By JAMAL HALABY - Associated Press Writer
AMMAN, Jordan - (AP) A U.N. auditing board has recommended that
the United States reimburse Iraq more than US$208 million (€175.9 million)
for contracting work carried out by the U.S.-based Kellogg, Brown & Root, in
the last two years.
The International Advisory and Monitoring Board of the Development
Fund for Iraq said in a report obtained Saturday that the work, paid for
with Iraqi oil proceeds, was either overpriced or done poorly by the
Halliburton subsidiary.
Compiled from an array of Pentagon, United States government and
private auditors, the report did not specify how or what work has been done
poorly.
"IAMB recommends that the U.S. Government seek resolution with the
Iraqi Government concerning the use of resources of the DFI which might be
in contradiction with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1483," the report
said.
That resolution transferred authority for expenditures from Iraq's
oil revenue from the United Nations to the Development Fund for Iraq, and
created an international body _ IAMB _ to monitor the expenditures.
A U.S. military official in Baghdad declined comment and Iraqi
government spokesman Laith Kuba was not immediately available.
The report said because the audits were continuing, it was premature
to specify how much of the US$208,491,382 (€176,358,807) must ultimately be
paid back.
But it added that once its analysis was completed, the board
"recommends that amounts disbursed to contractors that cannot be supported
as fair be reimbursed expeditiously."
In Washington, U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman of California, one of the
leading Democratic critics of Halliburton, said the international auditors
"have every right to expect a full refund of Halliburton's egregious
overcharges."
"For more than a year, administration officials concealed
Halliburton's overcharges from international auditors responsible for
monitoring the use of Iraqi funds. The Bush administration repeatedly gave
Halliburton special treatment and allowed the company to gouge both U.S.
taxpayers and the Iraqi people."
 
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