Protect the documents please...

Let's hope the UN takes step to protect these vital documents.

Governments seeking to prosecute officials and companies accused of corruption in relation to the Iraq oil-for-food affair could soon lose access to crucial evidence unless the United Nations intervenes to secure further funding, according to one of the authors of the UN report on the matter.

Mark Pieth, a Swiss criminal law professor and member of the independent inquiry into the UN oil programme in Iraq, told the Financial Times documents collated by his team over 18 months were set to revert back to their initial sources on November 30, when the inquiry’s mandate expires.

“This means that prosecutors and others will have to search for paperwork in Iraq, within the UN or elsewhere, which makes further investigations very difficult,” Mr Pieth said.

He called on the UN to intervene to ensure that a part of the investigation’s secretariat remained in place for three months to manage access to the documents for prosecutors around the world – a move he estimated would cost about $1m (€850,000, £570,000).

He estimated that it would cost that much to ensure that a “small team” remained in place for three months to manage access to the documents.