AWB joked about cash for killings

AWB sent millions of dollars in foreign currency to Saddam Hussein so he could build concrete bunkers, which AWB executives speculated might be used by the regime to bury Kurds.

AWB sent millions of dollars in foreign currency to Saddam Hussein so he could build concrete bunkers, which AWB executives speculated might be used by the regime to bury Kurds.

The shocking email detailing the reinforced bunkers came on an extraordinary final day of the Cole inquiry in which a former AWB managing director broke down on the stand and new Trade Minister Warren Truss was drawn into the Iraqi kickback scandal.

But the extent of the scandal was revealed in the email by executive Daryl Borlase, who said Iraq wanted to build 2000 concrete bunkers, ostensibly to store grain, but "the bunkers will have cement walls and floors so they are actually designed for burying the Kurds -- under the cement?"

"They intend to build them with fumigation capability so the mind boggles as to whether they are fumigating insects or any other pest that pisses them off," the email says.

It continued: "On a serious note, they will have cement flooring ..."

Saddam is currently on trial in Iraq for the genocide of 182,000 people in a 1987-88 campaign against the Kurds.

The dramatic revelations came just hours after Mr Truss, who was sworn in as Trade Minister at 2.30pm yesterday, was dragged into the scandal.

Senior counsel John Agius produced a letter, drawn from the archives of AWB's computers just this week, which suggested that former AWB chairman Trevor Flugge had discussed problems with the Iraq "trucking fee" with Mr Truss when he was agriculture minister in 2000.

The letter, which Mr Flugge swore he had never seen, was written on April 5, 2000, and addressed to the former Iraqi minister for trade, Mohammed Medhi Saleh, who later became the Six of Hearts in the Most Wanted pack of Iraqis.

It was written for Mr Flugge by an AWB executive turned whistleblower, Mark Emons.

The letter claims Mr Flugge had been speaking to Mr Truss, who was agriculture minister between 1999 and last year, about "Iraq/Australia trade".

It says Mr Flugge's support for Iraq "met with a very positive response" and that "as a consequence of my discussion with the minister, the Australian Government is now undertaking an extensive review of policy in terms of Iraq".

The letter says Mr Flugge was aware the Canadian and US governments had complained to the UN about AWB paying trucking fees to Iraq.

"It is our intention to remain committed to the terms of trade agreed between the Iraqi Grains Board and AWB," the letter says.

"The Australian Government equally supports this commitment to our trade."

Mr Truss's office yesterday confirmed that Mr Truss met Mr Flugge on March 1, 2000 -- about four weeks before the letter was written.

"The minister met Mr Flugge several times in 2000, as one might expect the agriculture minister to do," his spokesman said.

"At no stage was he aware of trucking payments. They discussed the size of the harvest and climactic conditions. Iraq obviously came up because it was a big customer.

"But there was certainly no review of policy."

Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said the letter, and the email referring to Kurds, bolstered the Opposition's claim that the kickback scandal amounted to "wheat for weapons". "We have argued from day one that this is a wheat-for-weapons scandal and, on this dramatic day of evidence, this connection is absolutely proved," Mr Rudd said.

"The reference to concrete bunkers, the reference to the Kurds, it gets to the core.

"This gross mismanagement of Australia's national security interests could have been avoided had ministers in the Howard Government actually done their job and enforced UN sanctions and not turned a blind eye to the many warnings.

"This is not only the worst corruption scandal in Australia's history, by directly funding the enemy it is the worst national security scandal in our post-war history."

Former AWB managing director Andrew Lindberg, who was the last witness on the last day of the inquiry, was asked by Mr Agius whether his staff knew that AWB's millions were being funnelled to Iraq at a time when Saddam was accused of massive human rights abuses.

"Would you agree with me, Mr Lindberg, that the (Kurds) email does make plain that there were personnel within AWB who were aware of what ... the Iraqi regime was capable of doing?" Mr Agius asked.

A short time later, Mr Lindberg collapsed into tears in the witness box.

His wife, who had been sitting in the public gallery, and several
supporters rushed to comfort him. Mr Lindberg resigned as CEO in February, shortly after Mr Agius asked him whether he was a "complete fool" for ignoring the scandal for so long.

The job had paid him more than $6 million in four years.

"I hope that wasn't said in a serious way," he said yesterday, of the Kurds email. "I think it's open for you to draw that inference."

Mr Lindberg told the inquiry he understood one of the reasons UN sanctions had been in place against Iraq was to stop Saddam's regime getting hold of foreign currency to buy weapons or for other nefarious purposes.

He insisted the trucking fees AWB was paying Jordanian-based transport firm Alia, part-owned by the Iraqi government, were used for that purpose and were not funnelled to Saddam.

"But there was no policy in place at AWB to ensure that what was occurring was appropriate, was there?" Mr Agius asked.

Mr Lindberg replied: "I think there was a policy and the policy has always been that we abide by laws, rules and regulations and ethical behaviour."

Mr Agius: "I suggest to you that the policy that was in place was a policy of doing whatever it took to get the business done?"

Mr Lindberg: "I disagree."