Aussie held over oil bribes

BRISBANE, Australia: Australian police on Wednesday arrested a man in connection with US$78 million in bribes used to secure lucrative Iraqi oil contracts linked to an alleged international corruption ring.

Local media named the man as former Leighton Offshore managing director Russell Waugh.

Police claim his company paid bribes through contractors including Unaoil -- a Monaco-based firm which last year had two former senior executives plead guilty to being part of a scheme to bribe foreign government officials in several countries including Azerbaijan, Syria and Iraq. Investigators believe the payments were used to secure contracts to build oil pipelines worth roughly US$1.5 billion.