Russia suspects foul play behind Volcker report

Russia could demand the Volcker Commission that probed alleged kickbacks received by foreign entities and individuals in implementing UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq to disclose its sources, as many of the documents it produced regarding alleged Russian involvement were 'dubious'.

Russia could demand the commission to disclose its sources of fake documents, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, adding Moscow was thoroughly studying the report.

"In a number of instances, the commission presented Russia with rather dubious or clearly falsified documents concerning Russia's participation in the oil-for-food programme," state-run Mayak Radio quoted Lavrov as saying.

"If more fakes are discovered now or in foreseeable future, we will urge the commission to explain how it came into possession of these so-called documents," Lavrov said.

The commission, led by former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, said more than 2,000 firms linked to the UN oil-for-food programme from 1996 through 2003 were involved in making illicit payments, including briberies and kickbacks, to the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein in exchange for oil export quotas.

Lavrov's comments came as Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov accused the intelligence services of concocting the report saying, "It is the handiwork of their special services (spy agencies) to destroy the foreign political rivals challenging the US policies."

Addressing reporters after a party conference, Zyuganov had categorically denied receiving any oil under the deal. "If we had received a single gallon, it would have been splashed all over in the Russian media in the ongoing campaign to discredit the Communists and the Communist Party," Zyuganov said.

Earlier, the Russian media had reported that the signatures of former chief of the Kremlin staff Alexander Volsohin on the "documents" produced by the commission as the proof of his involvement in dubious oil deals under the UN programme were "forged."