Cong Saddamed by Natwar & his son

Natwar, Volcker report says, had rights for four million barrels of oil, of which 1.9 million barrels were lifted by Masefield. The Congress Party, on the other hand, also allegedly had rights for four million barrels. Of this, only one million barrels were lifted in one go, again by Masefield AG, says the Volcker report.

While Natwar has called these allegations ‘‘baseless and untrue’’, the fact is his son Jagat was involved in promoting M/s Hamdan Trading, which is owned by his friend Andy Sehgal, for cornering contracts in Iraq between 2000-2002. Indian diplomats posted in west Asia in that period confirm that Jagat Singh paid at least two visits to Iraq, one of them just days before Saddam’s ‘‘referendum’’ of October 15, 2002.

On condition of anonymity, these officials alleged Jagat, who is now Congress MLA from Lachchmangarh, Rajasthan, used the offices of the Indian Embassy in Baghdad to push his business interests.

Despite repeated attempts by The Sunday Express to contact Jagat Singh, he was not available for comment and did not reply to text messages sent to his mobile phone.

Andy Sehgal, on the other hand, told The Sunday Express: ‘‘Jagat Singh is a friend of mine and not a relative … Hamdan Trading is my company and we did try to get some contracts through STC, which had issued tenders (for the ‘oil for food’ programme) … But we did not make the grade. In this connection I had also travelled to Iraq as part of an STC delegation.’’

While the Congress has left Natwar to defend himself, it may be recalled that he was instrumental, as an Opposition MP in 2003, in pushing for Parliament to pass a resolution that ‘‘deplored’’ the US invasion of Iraq.

In fact at the all-party meeting called to draft the resolution — on April 7, 2003 — Natwar attacked then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for soft-pedalling on the issue. According to those present, the then leader of the Samajwadi Party in the Lok Sabha, Mulayam Singh Yadav, urged Vajpayee to accede to Natwar’s demand for outright condemnation. The next day, the NDA government agreed to a resolution criticising the US action in Iraq. The same day US troops entered Baghdad.

The supposed involvement of the Panther Party’s Bhim Singh and the Congress Party was pointed out by Iraq’s Al-Meda newspaper on January 28, 2004. While implicating others, including British Labour Party MP George Galloway, the newspaper named the Congress as being an alleged recipient of one million barrels of oil.

Meanwhile, BJP general secretary said, ‘‘How can he (Natwar Singh) continue as India’s foreign minister even for a day? … Every word he speaks will be suspect and statements on foreign affairs will be suspect. A person who can be compromised by X can be compromised by Y.’’

State Trading Corporation: ‘‘STC did get a contract for supply of foodgrains during the period 1999-2000 and 2000-01. But it did not supply, as a letter of credit could not be opened.’’

Meanwhile, Arun Jaitley, BJP general secretary said, ‘‘How can he (Natwar Singh) continue as India’s foreign minister even for a day? … Every word he speaks will be suspect and statements on foreign affairs will be suspect. A person who can be compromised by X can be compromised by Y.’’