July 20, 2004 – The Bush administration is refusing to release information about Iraq-related contracts worth more than $1 billion, awarded to Halliburton without a bidding process. Auditors working for the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB), a UN-sanctioned panel charged with overseeing the management of Iraqi’s oil revenues, have repeatedly asked the US for internal audit information related to a "no-compete" Halliburton contract worth $1.4 billion. But the Bush administration has refused all such requests. An official with the IAMB says the US has also refused to turn over a list of other companies awarded no-compete contracts by the Coalition authority in Iraq.
The money for the contracts is being drawn from the Development Fund for Iraq, an account holding proceeds from the sale of Iraqi oil, which was controlled by the former US-led Coalitional Provisional Authority until June 28.
Last week the IAMB said an audit of the Development Fund prepared by the accounting firm KPMG showed that the CPA skirted its own rules for awarding contracts, with some expenditures receiving "inappropriate authorization."
