Natwar says Sonia behind his problems with ED

Hitting back at Congress President Sonia Gandhi, former external affairs minister K Natwar Singh today said she was behind his recent problems with the Enforcement Directorate in the Iraqi oil-for-food scam and attacked her foreign origins.

"Everything that the government did against me was on Sonia's directions. I will not blame Manmohan Singh," he told Star News.

The charges by the 75-year-old career diplomat-turned- politician, a Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist for long, comes close on the heels of Gandhi's attack on him in a TV interview three days ago.

Singh was apparently referring to setting up of an authority to probe allegations against him and his son after their names figured in the Volcker report on the oil-for-food scam.

Reacting to Gandhi's accusation of her being betrayed by Singh, he said, "Betrayed is a strong word and according to Indian culture, such words cannot be used against persons older to you by 15 years."

"Only those who are born on Indian soil will understand the country's ethos and culture. Others will not," he added.

Singh quit in November last year and was suspended in August this year for bringing "disrepute" to the party.