French court acquits oil giant Total, top officials of corruption in Iraq oil-for-food program
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A French court has acquitted oil giant Total SA and a raft of former French officials and executives of corruption-related charges linked to the scandal-ridden U.N. oil-for-food program for Iraq.
The Paris prosecutor's office says everyone facing trial in the high-profile case was acquitted Monday by a Paris court. Prosecutors have up to 10 days to appeal.
Defendants included Total SA, former Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, former French diplomats and others. Investigators accused them of getting around a U.N. embargo against Iraq by buying Iraqi oil through front companies, allowing Saddam Hussein's government to raise money illicitly.
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However, Total insisted it was operating according to the rules of the U.N oil-for-food program, which allowed Iraq to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian goods from 1996 to 2003.