Bula funded El Taher effort to lift sanctions on Iraq

Bula Resources funded a campaign by a consultant it employed to press Irish political leaders to lift sanctions against Iraq in the late 1990s.

The lobbying effort was carried out by Bill O'Herlihy Communications on behalf of Mr Riad El Taher, chairman of the British-based Friendship Across Frontiers group, between 1998 and 2000. Mr El Taher worked as a consultant for Bula at the time but the sanctions campaign was not organised by the company.

Mr El Taher also organised a visit by a group including former Taoiseach Mr Albert Reynolds to Iraq in 1998. Mr Reynolds, who subsequently became chairman of Bula, described the visit as humanitarian, rather than a business one. Mr Reynolds paid his own costs on the visit.

Iraq was one of two areas in which Bula concentrated its efforts in the late-1990s. It had hoped to win the right to explore for oil in the western desert. Mr El Taher was working for the company on the deal, which never came to fruition.

Bula also sold oil for Iraq under the UN-sponsored "oil for food" programme.

Mr El Taher has emerged as a name on a list of people who received secret payments from the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein under the programme, which was intended to ease the plight of Iraqi civilians.

Mr O'Herlihy confirmed over the weekend that he had been paid about €50,000 by Bula for his work.

Sources connected with Bula at the time were unable to confirm the payments but said they had no reason to doubt Mr O'Herlihy's statements.

Bula Resources faces renewed calls for the appointment of a liquidator this week after failing to deliver on a promise to repay a €200,000 debt.

The troubled exploration group owes the money to Computershare, a company that handled dealings in the company's share register.

Computershare first petitioned the High Court for the winding up of Bula, which has been delisted from the Irish Stock Exchange, late last year.

Following representations from Mr Omar Yazigi, the company's sole remaining director, it granted a reprieve.

However, it has seen no progress since then on repayment of the debt and the matter will again come before the High Court on Thursday.