A US class action brought on behalf of veterans of the 1991 Gulf War has named 33 banks in a suit that holds that they helped finance chemical weapons supplies to the deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime before Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait.

Lawyers for the veterans say the banks issued letters of credit (L/Cs) to finance supplies of chemical weapons to which the veterans were later exposed, leaving them with various degrees of disability.

Aided and abetted

The action alleges that the banks "aided and abetted" the former Iraqi regime by providing supplier defendants with L/Cs, guaranteeing payment by the Iraqi Government.

Around a dozen alleged suppliers of chemical weapons and manufacturing equipment are also named in the action.

Charges

Speaking on Australian radio, a spokesman for the veterans, Ken McCallion outlined the scope of charges against the banks:

"There's approximately 30 banks or so who provided some very detailed L/Cs and the theory of the complaint is that the banks knew or should have known from the level of detail relating to the financing of the chemicals that these were chemicals that were being used by the Iraqis, particularly during the late 1980s against the Kurdish population as well as, from time to time, against Iran," he said.

Full knowledge

The action goes on to argue that the bank defendants provided banking services without which Saddam Hussein could not have obtained his chemical weapons of mass destruction.

The veterans' argument also claims that the correspondent bank in a L/C transaction would have had "full and complete knowledge of the transaction, including knowledge of the parties and the goods and materials sold."

Surprise

David Lording, a spokesman for one of the banks named in the writ, Australia's Westpac, says the bank was surprised to receive the writ but he does not believe the bank is culpable.

"We've conducted a thorough review, and we do not believe that we have provided any finance, either directly or indirectly, to companies that may have been involved in developing chemical weapons or to Iraq directly in their weapons programme," he said on the same radio programme as McCallion.

Other banks named in the action include Lloyds TSB, the National Westminster Bank, Barclays, ABN Amro, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and Sumitomo Bank.

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