Inquiry report finds no government wrongdoing

? An inquiry into multimillion-dollar kickbacks to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein paid by Australia’s monopoly wheat exporter today recommended criminal charges against 11 company officials but found no illegal activity by the government.

The final report of the royal commission into payments by the Australian Wheat Board, now known as AWB Ltd., under the U.N.’s corruption-riddled Iraq oil-for-food program was made public today when it was formally tabled in Parliament.

In his report, former judge Terence Cole said, “I found no material that is any way suggestive of illegal activity by the Commonwealth or any of its officers.” The Commonwealth of Australia is a formal title used for the government.