SYDNEY, Aug 30 AAP - Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin...

SYDNEY, Aug 30 AAP - Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin
Rudd says documents indicating the federal government was warned of
AWB's involvement in the oil-for-food scandal prove a "cover up of
the worst order".
News Ltd newspapers today said the Cole inquiry has been given
nine pages of handwritten notes by a senior foreign affairs
official that prove the Howard government was warned of the scandal
two years ago.
However, AAP has confirmed the documents are old and were
tendered to the inquiry on April 27.
The notes, by veteran Australian diplomat John Quinn, mention
such terms as "AWB Ltd", "service fees", "10 per cent" and
"exposure" in the context of the impending investigation into
kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime.
Speaking in Sydney today, Mr Rudd said the documents prove
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer misled a US inquiry into
the oil-for-food scandal.
"In July 2004 Mr Downer, his department, is told directly by
Australian government officials that the AWB is into this up to its
eyeballs, and three months later Mr Downer swears on the bible to
the Americans that there's not a problem," Mr Rudd told reporters.
"Why did Mr Downer do that?"
"This is a cover up of the worst order, and he wanted just to
save his political hide, and Mr Howard's political hide, going into
the federal election."
Mr Rudd said the documents, no matter how old, prove the federal
government knew about AWB's involvement in the oil-for-food
scandal.
"The bottom line is that the black and white writing, the notes
taken by Mr Quinn, head of the Iraq taskforce ... are there now
plain as day for everyone to see," he said.
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