Sunday, November 6 2005 15:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today (Nov 6, 2005) became yet another United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ally to come out in support of Congress and beleaguered External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh with the party dismissing opposition demands for the minister's resignation in the wake of the Volcker committee report.

"Mere mention of Natwar Singh and Congress in the report is no evidence of their involvement (in the oil-for-food scandal) and it has to be investigated," NCP spokesman D P Tripathi told sources.

Tripathi, also party General Secretary, described Natwar Singh as an honest and scholarly politician and said that there has been 'some kind of conspiracy' to malign the continued friendly relations of India with Iraq and Saddam Hussein's regime.

Tripathi recalled that Paul Volcker, who headed the UN appointed committee said that he had reached the findings based on the records available in Iraq. But he has not verified those records and therefore a probe is necessary into the committee's findings.

So far, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) among the UPA allies and the Left parties among the outside supporters have come out in supportof Singh but have sought an independent probe in the matter.