KUWAIT CITY, 14 February 2004 — Kuwait’s Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad Fahd Al-Sabah yesterday denied public funds had been squandered or there had been any abuse of power in a deal to supply fuel to the US military in Iraq through oil services giant Halliburton.

“I have not abused my authorities ... I am confident public funds have not been squandered in any way,” Sheikh Ahmad said in comments published in the Al-Qabas daily.

“I will not accept any infringement on public funds. I will deal with any one involved, whether he is a relative or not, in a way to safeguard Kuwait’s interests,” said the minister. The minister called for patience until the results of a judicial probe were available. On Monday, he asked the public prosecutor to look at allegations of misconduct on the part of executives at the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC) and alleged exorbitant profiteering by a Kuwaiti subcontractor.

The deal, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, is between KPC and private firm Al-Tanmia Commercial Marketing Co. to supply 1,500 tons of fuel daily to the US Army in Iraq through Halliburton’s Kellog Brown and Root (KBR) unit. Kuwaiti lawmakers are pushing for their own probe into the deal, saying the government could not be trusted to handle it alone. A formal request to form a four-member committee to investigate the deal was signed by 23 of the 50-member house and submitted to Speaker Jassem al-Khorafi on Wednesday. The request said the MPs want to clear Kuwait’s name of “robbery charges” and determine where the blame lies. The minister, in his first reaction to the lawmakers, said the public prosecutor remained the most neutral and preferred body to investigate.

“The Kuwaiti judiciary enjoys unquestionable integrity. God willing, it will be immune from internal or external pressures,” in conducting the investigation, he said.

Veteran opposition MP and former three-time speaker Ahmad Al-Saadun has spearheaded the motion which is likely to be tabled for voting on Monday. All 15 members of the Kuwaiti Cabinet, all but one of whom are unelected MPs, have the right to vote on the issue.

The committee would enjoy vast powers and could seek the help of the State Audit Bureau, government and parliamentary experts and any other party it chooses and would be expected to report back to parliament within 60 days.

Outspoken opposition MP Mussallam Al-Barrak said Tuesday a parliamentary probe was needed because MPs do not trust senior KPC officials to provide the judicial inquiry with all the necessary documents.

The MPs’ eight-page request contains extensive excerpts from US media and official reports about the case, which finger Kuwait and its ruling family for allegedly overcharging US taxpayers.

A draft US audit disclosed in December that the US government had been overcharged by some $61 million for oil purchased through a Halliburton subcontractor in Kuwait. The request charged that Al-Tanmia was making profits of about $840,000 a day from allegedly overcharging KBR and endangering Kuwait’s close ties with the United States. Halliburton, formerly headed by US Vice President Dick Cheney, said last month it had repaid the government $6.3 million following allegations that two employees took kickbacks in exchange for awarding a Kuwait-based company an oil contract for US troops in Iraq.