US
publishes Saddam 'bribe list'Saddam Hussein sought to influence world figures with "oil vouchers" in a bid to get UN sanctions lifted, the US Iraq Survey Group has said in a report. The report, published on the CIA's website, lists names said to have been obtained from two senior Iraqi officials captured last summer. It does not say if any attempt was made to verify the data, and notes that some vouchers were issued legitimately. Several figures named in connection with the scheme have denied wrongdoing. Shadowy sanction-busting deals also netted the regime some $11bn, according to the report which is part of a 1,200-page survey compiled for the CIA by Charles Duelfer, head of the ISG. Information on the voucher scheme, the report says, was gleaned from 13 secret files kept by Iraq's former Vice-President, Taha Yassin Ramadan, and the former Oil Minister, Amir Rashid. Lengthy list: According to the ISG's findings, President Saddam Hussein particularly targeted officials from France, Russia and France - all of them veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council. The ISG points out that at least some of the vouchers - which permitted recipients to purchase varying amounts of oil at a profit - were issued legitimately through the UN's Oil For Food (OFP) programme. Equally, it stresses that receipt of a voucher did not mean it was ever actually cashed in. The "known oil voucher recipients" listed relate to some 40 different countries and include former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Benon Sevan, the former head of the OFP programme for Iraq. All three have denied accepting bribes, reports of which surfaced earlier: 1-Mr Sevan's position that he had done nothing wrong remained unchanged after the publication of the new report, said UN spokesman Fred Eckhard .2-Declaring in January that he had never accepted bribes, Mr Zhirinovsky suggested "somebody in the West" had an interest in discrediting Russia. 3-An indignant Mr Pasqua told le Monde that other people may have received funds from Saddam's regime but: "Don't look in my direction". Names of US companies or citizens found on the secret Iraqi lists were left out of the report on grounds of the US Privacy Act, the ISG report notes. It also suggests the governments of Jordan, Turkey, Syria and Egypt engaged in an illegal oil trade with Iraq.
BBCUS candidates in second TV debate
Mr Kerry's standing in opinion polls has risen since his widely perceived win over Mr Bush in their first face-to-face contest of the campaign. The Democrat has also used new reports about the war in Iraq and US jobs to attack the president on two topics set to be key in the 90-minute showdown. Correspondents say the pressure is on Mr Bush to put on a strong performance. They add that Friday's debate in St Louis, Missouri, was more to the president's folksy style. The candidates perched on stools and walked around the stage during the debate. A screened mix of questions on foreign policy, homeland security and domestic issues were addressed by members of the audience, rather than a moderator. The rules of the debate do not permit further audience involvement, such as follow-up questions or applause. While only the audience members and moderator know the questions in advance, observers say they expect the continuing violence in Iraq as well as the domestic economic situation to feature heavily.
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Screened questions will come from audience.
Both presidential candidates lambasted each other after the release of the report by the Iraq Survey Group that found that there were no stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) when the US led the invasion but that Saddam Hussein wanted to recreate Iraq's WMD capability. Mr Bush said Saddam Hussein had been a threat and the war was the correct choice. "Based on all the information we have to date, I believe we were right to take action, and America is safer today with Saddam Hussein in prison," he said on Thursday. But Mr Kerry told reporters: "President Bush's serious errors in judgment have left us more vulnerable and less safe as the terrorists continue to murder school children and target our brave soldiers." There was also a sharp divide between Republicans and Democrats over the latest information on the economy. The last labour department report before the election showed that 96,000 extra workers were hired in December, though that fell below analysts' expectations. Treasury Secretary John Snow said in a statement that the report was encouraging, though more still had to be done. "Today's employment report shows the steady creation of jobs fuelled by the pro-growth policies and strong economic leadership of President Bush," he said. But Mr Kerry also issued a statement in which he called the figures "disappointing".
President Bush will be the first president in 72 years to face the electorate with an economy that has lost jobs under his watch," he said. The sometimes fiery showing by running mate Dick Cheney in the vice-presidential debate was thought to have aided the Bush campaign and the tactics may be continued. But neither candidate will want to go too far and seem angry or unlikeable. The BBC's Rob Watson warns that there is a fine line to be walked in what has become a high-stakes contest to win over voters. Mr Kerry's standing in opinion polls rose after the first debate, including in key swing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania that may decide the election in what is again a close race for the White House. Both candidates stayed off the campaign trail on Friday to concentrate on preparing for the debate at Washington University in St Louis. A third match-up is scheduled in Arizona.