Oil-For-Food: Mr. Abdelnour's Cousin

Fakhry Abdelnour, according to the Interim Report of the UN's Independent Inquiry Committee looking into Oil-For-Food (O-F-F), had a crummy little oil company that was not the sort of enterprise that would get a lucrative contract under O-F-F. But he did get the contracts -- and made $1.5 million off them.

The post below details the cozy relationship between Abdelnour and O-F-F director Benon Sevan. The Iraqis did not want to give Abdelnour's company contracts, but they wanted spare parts for their oil fields, and Sevan could influence the opening of that door. So Abdelnour got the contracts.

Why were Abdelnour and Sevan so buddy-buddy? Sevan told investigators who confronted him with overwhelming evidence that his relationship with Abdelnour was much closer than he had led them to believe, "I came to like the guy. He is an interesting character ou know, he's been around the world."

There may be another reason. Abdelnour is a cousin of former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Small world.