By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - A divided U.S. federal appealscourt on Thursday rejected Iraq's effort to sue dozens ofcompanies for allegedly conspiring with the Saddam Husseinregime to frustrate the United Nations' oil-for-food program.
By a 2-1 vote, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in NewYork said Iraq's government could not recoup damages under aU.S. anti-racketeering law because it remained accountable forthe Hussein regime's effort to defraud the U.N. program, despitehaving repudiated that effort and the regime's legitimacy.
The appeals court, by a unanimous vote, also said Iraq couldnot pursue claims under the federal Foreign Corrupt PracticesAct, saying the law's antibribery provision does not allowprivate lawsuits.
More than 80 companies, subsidiaries and affiliates werenamed as defendants in the 2008 lawsuit over the $64.2 billionoil-for-food program, which ran from 1996 to 2003.
Among the defendants were; the French bank BNP Paribas SA, which oversaw a U.N. escrow account for the program;Swiss engineering company ABB Ltd ; U.S. oil companyChevron Corp ; British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc and German electronics company Siemens AG.
Iraq claimed that Hussein defrauded the program by sellingoil at below-market prices while receiving kickbacks, andoverpaying for food and medicine in exchange for side payments.
It said the defendants' involvement deprived Iraqi citizensof more than $10 billion of essential aid that should have beenpaid from the escrow account.
Christian Siebott, a lawyer representing Iraq, did notimmediately respond to requests for comment.
Thursday's decision upheld a February 2013 ruling by U.S.District Judge Sidney Stein in Manhattan.
"The majority decision is clearly correct," said RobertBennett, a lawyer for BNP Paribas.
The case is Iraq v. ABB AG et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court ofAppeals, No. 13-618. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, editing by GCrosse)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)