Oil vouchers given visitors who praised Iraqi dictator

By The New York Times

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That was where the oil traders would gather whenever a journalist, actor or political figure would arrive in Iraq and openly praise President Saddam Hussein.

Experience taught them that the visitor usually returned to the hotel with a gift voucher, courtesy of the Iraqi president or one of his aides, representing the right to buy 1 million barrels or more of Iraqi crude.

The vouchers had considerable value.

With the major oil companies monopolizing most Persian Gulf oil, there was fierce competition among smaller traders for the chance to buy Iraqi oil.

And as long as Iraq kept its oil prices low enough, traders could make a tidy profit, even after buying the voucher and paying the surcharge.

"We used to joke that if you get 1 million barrels, you could make $200,000," referring to a period when the vouchers sold for about 20 cents per barrel, said Shamkhi Faraj, who managed the Oil Ministry's finance department under Saddam Hussein's government.

"And yet the ones who got it were those people who used to come here and praise Saddam for his stand against imperialism."

Faraj did not identify any of those he said received vouchers.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company