Iraq Can't Explain $69 Million in Fuel Oil From '04, Audit Says - New York Times

By ERIK ECKHOLM

Iraqi officials cannot explain what happened to $69 million worth of fuel oil produced in the second half of 2004, raising fears that it was smuggled out of the country for private gain, according to a report released yesterday by United Nations-appointed auditors.

The report, by the auditing firm KPMG, said Iraq's recorded exports of fuel oil mysteriously declined by a comparable amount during that same period of 2004, the initial months of sovereignty for the newly installed Iraqi government.

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The group that hired KPMG, the International Advisory and Monitoring Board, was created by the United Nations to watch the handling of Iraqi assets, mainly oil revenues, after the American-led invasion.

The board has repeatedly criticized the American government for its loose spending controls during the period it controlled Iraqi assets, from the invasion in early 2003 to the transfer of sovereignty last June.

Semper Fi