US: The UN's $60 billion oil-for-food programme in pre-war Iraq was "tainted" from top to bottom, and the official in charge had a "conflict of interest", according to an independent inquiry led by former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker.
However, the inquiry says the abuse was not widespread, contrary to allegations by the UN's strongest critics on Capitol Hill.
It does say, though, that the programme director, Benon Sevan of Cyprus, engaged in "an irreconcilable conflict of interest" by choosing the firms that bought Iraqi oil.
Mr Volcker outlined his conclusions in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, prior to the publication of an interim report later yesterday. He said programme managers, auditors and contractors and those who controlled UN expenditures failed "to follow the established rules of the organisation designed to assure fairness and accountability".
The 1996-2003 programme allowed Iraq to sell oil to buy food and medicine to ease the effects of sanctions imposed after the 1990-91 Gulf War.
Mr Sevan has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
A separate report on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and his son, Kojo, who worked for a firm involved in the programme, will be published later.