Another liberal, this one with direct ties to the Liberal Party and every Liberal leader from Paul Martin down through Trudeau, is caught in the murky gaze of the UN/Iraq Oil-For-Food inquiry—the other liberal-driven scandal in our world these days.
The Globe and Mail reports on it along with major papers all over the map:
The independent inquiry into the United Nations oil-for-food program is seeking information about the connections of prominent Canadian businessman and UN adviser Maurice Strong, an inquiry spokesman said yesterday.
The spokesman told Reuters news agency that the inquiry is seeking clarification on Mr. Strong, 76, who once headed Petro-Canada and Ontario Hydro and has been close to top Canadian politicians for decades.
Mr. Strong has acknowledged links with Tongsun Park, a South Korean lobbyist and businessman. Mr. Park was charged last week in a U.S. court with acting illegally as an unregistered agent of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
“We are looking to clarify [Mr. Strong’s] relationships and understand whether or not he had any direct involvement with the oil-for-food program,” the spokesman told Reuters.
At the same time, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan cast doubt on whether Mr. Strong would continue in his role as Mr. Annan’s personal envoy to North Korea, where he has travelled several times.
Mr. Strong acknowledged in a statement issued on Monday that he had a “relationship” with Mr. Park, and that the South Korean had invested in a company with which he was associated. He said the firm had nothing to do with Iraq or the oil-for-food program.
Documents filed in U.S. federal court in New York allege that Mr. Park received payments while in Iraq on business related to the oil-for-food program, and put $1-million of the money into a Canadian energy company set up by the son of a senior UN official. Neither the documents nor Mr. Strong’s statement identify the company.
Mr. Annan’s spokesman, StÃ
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