Dealing with Saddam.

CHEVRON, MOBIL AND TEXACO were among the corporations that purchased oil from Iraq under the UN-operated oil-for-food program while sanctions were in place against the regime of Saddam Hussein.

The companies' activities were not illegal. They were conducted under UN oversight. Hundreds

The names of these companies, and hundreds of others that did business with the Saddam Hussein regime, first became public in October following publication of the Duelfer report, the Iraq Survey Group report issued by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Another list was published weeks later by the Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Oil-for-Food Program, a committee established by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and chaired by Paul Volcker, former chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Oil sales under the program were subject to review by the Security Council's Iraq sanctions committee.

U.S. sanctions against Iraq prohibited doing business with the country, but a special exemption was created to purchase the oil as part of the UN food-for-oil program.

"The program was abused when Saddam Hussein intervened, personally selecting individuals and companies to receive oil allocations," reports the New York Times. Over time, Saddam Hussein allegedly demanded kickbacks from the oil dealers, and may have used the funds to purchase weapons.

A U.S. federal grand jury is investigating possible abuses of the program, and, reports the New York Times, has subpoenaed El Paso Corporation, which assumed control of the assets of a company, Coastal Corporation, once run by Oscar Wyatt, who received allocations from the Saddam Hussein government for 74 million barrels of oil.