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"I had no one carry money in for me; I had no one
tell me that they were carrying money in; I had no
business on behalf of Woodside; I had nothing to do
with any money going in," he told the ABC's AM
program.
"I don't know where Mr Butterly (the News Limited
reporter) has got that from. I don't know what to
suggest really. It's so gross."
Senator Lightfoot said he was distressed when he
received a phone call late last night in relation to
the story, which was printed today in News Limited
newspapers.
"Those accusations are so grossly defamatory for me
.... and I'll be taking action as soon as I can," he
said.
"I hope the Daily Telegraph has its insurance
premiums paid up."
But News Limited today said it is standing by the
story that Senator Lightfoot gave the money, in
$US20,000, to the Kurdish Regional Government in
January.
"The News Limited newspapers stand by the story," a
spokeswoman said.
The story was accompanied by a photograph of Senator
Lightfoot, holding an AK-47 assault rifle as he
stood beside Kurdish fighters, that was apparently
taken during his trip to Iraq in January.
Senator Lightfoot admitted he had travelled to Iraq
last year with a Woodside employee, whom he met an
at economic conference, but said he was not doing
business on behalf of the company.
He said meetings with Kurdish government
representatives during his trip to Iraq in January,
when he was alleged to have smuggled the money, were
purely humanitarian.
"I was more interested in their burgeoning
democracy."
On radio 3AW, however, he did concede that he was
armed with a .38-calibre pistol during his trip.
"If someone was going to shoot at me, I was going to
shoot back," he said.
On Sydney radio 2UE, Senator Lightfoot said that he
took "no more than $US2000" ($A2530) into country.
The senator was also asked to explain newspaper
photographs of him holding a AK-47 assault rifle
alongside Iraqi Kurd troops during the January trip.
"I had been there (Iraq) before and I always have an
escort of the IRG (Iraq National Guard) and they're
fine young men, great people to be with, and I just
happened to have a photo taken with them," he said.
Woodside denial
Earlier, Woodside flatly rejected claims it used
Senator Lightfoot to smuggle $25,000 into Iraq.
The story suggested the money was intended as a
"donation" from Woodside Petroleum, a company in
which Senator Lightfoot had held shares, according
to the parliamentary register.
But Woodside Energy, a subsidiary of Woodside
Petroleum, today said it had no relationship with
Senator Lightfoot.
"Woodside has no relationship with Senator Lightfoot
and he is wrong to assert any such relationship," it
said in a statement to the Australian Stock
Exchange.
The company confirmed it had made a $US20,000
($A25,000) donation to the Kurdish government, to go
towards a hospital, but said it was done legally
from Australia.
Woodside said it had struck an agreement with
Perth's Curtin University in October last year to
provide the money for the Halabjae Hospital in
northern Iraq through the university's Woodside
Hydrocarbon Research Facility.
"The donation was properly made by Curtin University
to a Kurdistan Regional Government representative in
Australia, Simco Halmet, to pass on to the
hospital."
The money was then formally handed over to the
hospital in January.
"The acknowledgement stated the donation would be
used for buying five computers, building and
electrical upgrades, bedding and other patient
needs," the statement said.
Woodside spokesman Rob Millhouse said the company
had not decided if it would pursue legal action over
the story.
"We have in-house lawyers looking into the matter,"
he said.
Taxpayer-funded
According to a newspaper report, Senator Lightfoot
went to Iraq on a taxpayer-funded study tour on the
understanding he was there to observe Iraq's first
democratic election, on January 30 this year.
He stayed in the town of Sulaymaniyah in Kurdistan,
in northern Iraq, where Woodside is trying to tap
into Iraq's oil reserves.
There are strict federal laws governing taking large
sums of money out of Australia.
Any amount over $10,000, or the foreign currency
equivalent, must be declared and offenders can face
up to two years jail or a maximum fine of $13,000.
The news report said Senator Lightfoot told the
newspaper on Tuesday that the cash was sewn into the
lining of his jacket.
The Western Australian senator said he handed the
money to the Prime Minister of Kurdish Regional
Government Omar Fatah, the paper reported.
But Senator Lightfoot this morning reiterated any
money taken into the country was for his own needs.
"It was my own money. Remember, there's no banks or
Western agencies there or American Express," he
said.
"I paid for myself to go into Iraq and I'm claiming
it back through the protocols of our study tour."
http://www.theage.com.au
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