The government has no information on the involvement of a Malaysian trading company linked to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's in-laws, which is allegedly the biggest bribe-giver to the illicit oil-for-food deal involving deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar in a parliamentary written reply to Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh) today said the companies which provide material and services under the oil-for-food programme dealt directly with the United Nations.

"Thus, it is up to the UN to take appropriate action if there is any company that breached the conditions stipulated by the UN under the programme.

"So far, Malaysia has not received information pertaining to any registered Malaysian companies which have breached the relevant conditions," he added.

UN report

In an UN independent inquiry report released last October, Abdullah was cleared from any involvement in the deal but two of his in-laws, Noor Asiah Mahmood and Faek Ahmad Shareef, were implicated.

Faek, an Iraqi immigrant, was married to the sister of Abdullah's late wife Endon Mahmood but the couple has since divorced. Meanwhile, Noor Aisah is also one of Endon's sisters.

According to the 623-page report, the duo via a company called Mastek had allegedly paid a whopping US$10 million (RM38 million) to Saddam's regime for the single largest oil allocation under the UN-administered programme.

The report also stated that Faek's oil allocations were "tied to political considerations as Iraqi officials perceived him as someone who could assist in countering the effects of sanctions by improving Iraq's ties with Malaysia".

"This perception was due in part to Mr Shareef's (Faek) family ties to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Malaysian deputy prime minister in 1999 and its current prime minister, and Mr Shareef's ability to arrange for trade delegations to visit Iraq," the report added.

Mastek had refused to comment on the report while Faek had told the New Straits Times that "there is some truth in the report but it is not the whole truth". He said the oil allocation was "just a business".