Malaysia Sunday promised an inquiry into a US report which said a man with the same name as Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was involved in an oil scam with the former Iraqi regime.
The foreign ministry would conduct the investigation as "there is absolutely no proof to say that Abdullah the prime minister is involved in deals under the United Nations' oil-for-food programme. He was not involved," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said.
Abdullah called for the investigation after denying his involvement. "I just want to find out how come my name is there," he told reporters Sunday. "I have supported the various Malaysia companies that wanted to participate in the oil-for-food programme of Iraq.
That programme is a valid legitimate business organised by the United Nations in collaboration with the Iraqi government. So I sent the letter (supporting the companies' bids for roles in the programme), that's all. Nothing else," he said.
"I have no deal or share (in the matter). I don't know how my name was implicated," Abdullah said.
A report released by the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) on Wednesday lists a Malaysian by the name of "Abdullah Badawi" as having been given vouchers to sell two million barrels of Iraqi oil through a company called Tradeyear.
The report, which also implicated national oil company Petronas, alleged the person had sold 1.95 million barrels and estimated the profit could be as high as 0.65 dollars per barrel. The report did not identify the buyer as the Malaysian prime minister.
Authorities would also investigate the online news portal Malaysiakini for reporting on the issue, Syed Hamid said.
"We want to know (Malaysiakini's) motive in dragging our prime minister's name into it," Syed Hamid was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.
Malaysiakini on Saturday reported that a Malaysian by the name of "Abdullah Badawi" had gained illegal financial benefit from an illicit deal involving Iraq's oil-for-food programme, quoting the ISG report.
"There are some people who want to smear the good name of our leader because it is clear that he (Abdullah) has nothing to gain by obtaining oil from Iraq," Syed Hamid said.
The ISG study said Saddam Hussein used foreign companies and governments to raise revenues in violation of UN sanctions and paid millions of dollars in cash and petrol export vouchers.
The report said Saddam raised 7.5 billion dollars through government-to-government agreements, another two billion dollars from kickbacks or surcharges associated with the UN's oil-for-food program, and another 990 million dollars from "cash sales" of oil.
The report also identifies former French interior minister Charles Pasqua and Patrick Maugein, an official of the French petroleum company Soco International said to be close to French President Jacques Chirac, and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, as recipients.