WASHINGTON (AFP) - News of an FBI probe of Halliburton contracts in Iraq has made a splash in the presidential campaign`s final days, with Democrats leading the charge against the company`s former chief, Vice President Dick Cheney.
The FBI has asked to interview an army contracting official about a multi-billion dollar no-bid contract to restore Iraqi oil that was awarded to a subsidiary of Halliburton Co., her lawyer said.
Bunnatine Greenhouse, the top civilian contracting official of the US Army Corps of Engineers, earlier this week accused the corps` leaders of interfering on behalf of Halliburton in awards of billion-dollar no-bid contracts in Iraq and the Balkans.
Michael Kohn, Greenhouse`s lawyer, told AFP that the FBI has asked to interview her.
The FBI has neither confirmed nor denied opening this investigation.
Halliburton, an oil services firm, has won billions of dollars in contracts to feed, house and take care of troops in Iraq, but has been accused of using political connections and of overcharging.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has charged that Cheney, who was chief executive officer of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000, received nearly two million dollars from the company since becoming vice president despite his contention he severed all financial ties.
Halliburton said Friday the news was in fact a number of "old allegations" revived ahead of the presidential election.
"The old allegations by Bunny Greenhouse have once again been recycled, this time one week before the election," said Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall.
Hall noted that a congressional report earlier this year concluded "that the contract was properly awarded because Halliburton was the only contractor that could do the work."
Greenhouse`s allegations were made in an October 21 letter to Army Secretary Les Brownlee who referred the matter to the Pentagon`s inspector general.
Greenhouse clashed with her superiors at the Corps of Engineers when she raised concerns about their justifications for awarding Halliburton no-bid contracts first five year contract to restore Iraq`s oil industry, and later on an extension of its two-billion-dollar contract to house and feed US troops in the Balkans, which was worth 165 million dollars to KBR.
The letter alleges that corps leaders shut her out of the approval process by having waivers of the contracting rules signed without her knowledge by military officers in her office.
"We anticipate that she will be interviewed and we hope that the government will provide her with appropriate protection, whistle blower protection, from retaliation," Kohn said.
Kohn said the FBI "were requesting to interview her concerning the RIO contract."
He was referring to the so-called "Restore Iraqi Oil" contract, a no-bid contract worth up to seven billion dollars that was secretly awarded to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root before the Iraq war.
Army Corps spokeswoman Carol Sanders acknowledged that her agency is talking with the FBI about the matter, but declined to discuss details of the inquiry. "The FBI has asked some questions. Our role is to cooperate," Sanders said Thursday.
Kerry`s running mate John Edwards said on the campaign trail "today we learned that the FBI is investigating the awards of no-bid contracts to Halliburton. Good people came forward to tell the truth about these contracts because they -- like the American people -- know that the administration`s special treatment of Halliburton was wrong.
"At every turn for the past four years, George Bush and Dick Cheney gave out special favors and looked out for their special interest friends - not the middle class. When John Kerry is president, the middle-class will have a champion fighting for them in the White House," Edwards said.
"If there is wrongdoing, the president expects it to be investigated fully and dealt with," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
10/29/2004 - 17:37 GMT - AFP