Malaysian PM cleared in oil-for-food scandal

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2005

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been cleared of involvement in the Iraq oil-for-food scandal, but a United Nations inquiry has implicated two of his relatives.

The Malaysiakini news website said Saturday that through a Malaysian trading company called Mastek, the pair paid 10 million dollars to Saddam Hussein's regime for the single largest oil allocation under the program.

Malaysiakini identified the two as Faek Ahmad Shareef, an Iraqi immigrant who was married to Abdullah's sister-in-law but later divorced, and Noorasiah Mahmood, the sister of Abdullah's late wife who died this month.

According to the report, Mastek made the single largest payment among 2,200 companies from 66 countries which were found to have paid...