While the U.S and U.K are alleged to have been aware of the scandal, it has become known that the primary beneficiaries were France, China and Russia. These three countries were the main suppliers of conventional weapons estimated at between 650,000 and 1,000,000 tons. [http://engforum.pravda.ru/printthread.php3?threadid=97297&perpage=79] As late as 2002, French and Chinese companies were providing Iraq with chemical fuels for rockets in violation of U.N. sanctions. Additionally, the sole bank handling funds transfers for the Oil-for-food program was the New York branch of the Banque Nationale de Paris-Paribas, or BNP Paribas. This French bank was the sole bank for administering the $64 billion U.N. program and did not have adequate checks on whether money was being funneled to terrorists, according to a US House of Representatives International Relations Committee probe. The investigation found that BNP Paribas made payments without proof that goods were delivered and sanctioned payments to third parties not identified as authorized recipients. Investigators estimate that the bank received more than $700 million in fees under the U.N. program that began in 1996 and ended after the ouster of Saddam in March 2003. [http://www.washtimes.com/national/20041118-120331-8156r.htm]
