Iraq's former finance minister alleged in a US television report that up to US$800 million meant to equip the Iraqi army had been stolen from the government by former officials through fraudulent arms deals.

Former minister Ali Allawi told CBS' "60 Minutes" that US$1.2 billion had been allocated from the Iraqi treasury to the defence ministry to buy new weapons. About US$400 million was spent on outdated equipment, while the rest of the money was simply stolen, he said in the interview that was aired on Sunday.

Allawi, who has levelled such accusations repeatedly in the past, said the arms fraud is "one of the biggest thefts in history" and that corrupt former Iraqi officials are now "running around the world hiding and scurrying around."

He did not name the officials who allegedly stole the money during the CBS report. But Iraqi investigators are probing several weapons and equipment deals engineered by former procurement officer Ziad Cattan and other officials including former Defence Minister Hazem Shaalan.

The former minister, a Sunni-Arab who held the defence portfolio under interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's government, has denied any wrongdoing.

Iraqi authorities have issued arrest warrants against 88 former Iraqi officials, including Shaalan and 14 other ministers.

Most of the fraudulent arms purchases were allegedly made during the term of Ayad Allawi, who took office after occupation authorities turned over sovereignty to Iraqis on June 28, 2004. When new Defence Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi took office in May 2005, an investigation was opened into several alleged cases of corruption. Ayad Allawi and Ali Allawi are cousins.

Tapes obtained by "60 Minutes" from a former associate of Cattan allegedly captured Cattan talking about paying large bribes to Iraqi officials.

Cattan, wanted by Iraqi authorities and now living in Paris, was interviewed in the same "60 Minutes" broadcast and said he can account for the hundreds of millions he used to purchase weapons.

"I have documentation. I give it to you in your hands," Cattan said.

He said the tapes, excerpts of which were played on the broadcast, had been doctored and were not authentic.

Experts at Jane's, a leading authority on military hardware, told "60 Minutes" the documentation Cattan provided did not prove whether any of the weapons he ordered paid for in advance had been delivered to Iraq.

Judge Radhi al-Radhi, chief of Iraq's Public Integrity Commission, said that aside from the hundreds of millions of dollars believed to have been stolen by the officials, the arms that did make their way to Iraq Soviet-era helicopters, bulletproof vests and ammunition were in such poor shape they could not be used.

Source: China Daily