Friday, November 4 2005 14:39 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Communist Party of India (CPI) today (Nov 4, 2005) came out in support of External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, named as a beneficiary in a UN report on Iraqi oil deals, saying he has a 'strong case' and there was no need for him to quit the Government.

"He (Natwar Singh) has a strong case. All these (findings of the Volcker committee report) are funny exercises. Even the Russians have said it is a forged document," CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan told reporters after meeting Singh at his residence here.

Asked whether Singh should resign in the wake of the report which has said that he and the Congress party were non-contractual beneficiaries in the food-for-oil programme in 2001 under Saddam Hussain regime, the CPI veteran said, "Why should he?"

Bardhan, who was accompanied by National Secretary of the party D Raja, said that he advised Singh to make a detailed statement in Parliament.

The CPI leader termed as 'meaningless' the Congress move to issue a legal notice to the U N and the Volcker Committee demanding full disclosure of the material on the basis of which the inquiry committee reached the 'unverified conclusion' that the party is a beneficiary in the Iraqi oil deal scam.

"You cannot sue the UN which consists of 192 countries no American court would entertain notice to Paul Volcker (former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve)," he said.