By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS - Russia is refusing to provide witnesses or information to the independent investigation into alleged corruption in the multibillion-dollar U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq , an official close to the investigation said Wednesday.

 

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russian diplomats "dug in their heels" during a meeting in Moscow this week with members of the independent inquiry.

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A report by top U.S. arms inspector Charles Duelfer, released last month, alleged that Saddam issued secret vouchers for purchase of oil to an array of officials and political figures from various countries, dominated by Russia, France and China. That oil could then be resold at a profit.
 

Saddam allegedly issued the vouchers with the aim of currying favor among U.N. Security Council members.
 

U.S. Congressional investigators on Monday estimated that Saddam had raised more than $21.3 billion in illegal revenue, using the oil-for-food program and other schemes, like the illegal smuggling of oil.
 

In Russia, the recipients allegedly included the presidential administration's office, top oil companies Yukos and Lukoil, and ultranationalist lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the report said.
 

At a news conference last month, Volcker said his investigators had received good cooperation from the U.S. and Iraqi governments, and a promise of cooperation from France.
 

But he said there had been "a little resistance here and there," citing the French bank BNP Paribas, where the oil-for-food program had its account, and the American accounting firm Ernst & Young which was hired by the Iraqi Board of Supreme Audit to review more than 20,000 files from Saddam's regime related to the oil-for-food program.

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