Ambushes all in a day's work
Liam Walsh

AN AMBUSH. A demand for kickbacks. Turkey for the US President. Queensland caterer Robert McVicker says his company has had its hands full while working in Iraq and he's planning on going back for more.

About two months ago the director of Morris Corp said he was driving a Chevrolet Suburban four-wheel drive down a highway in Iraq when a utility carrying Iraqis braked in front.

"They just stopped, jumped out, jumped on top of the tray of it, picked up all the AK-47s and everything else they had and started firing," said Mr McVicker.

He said he then drove at steel posts separating the highway.

"I smashed down two of those, then down up the other side – (and) stalled the car," he said.

"They then came running over to me, I managed to get it started."

Luckily, he said, a US military convoy was coming the other way.

"Otherwise maybe I wouldn't be around."

Morris Corp is now involved in a different scrap over a contract worth more than $100 million.

The contract is with a subsidiary of US giant Halliburton, which has been under investigation over fuel and meals supplied to the US military.

Morris and a Kuwaiti construction partner last year had a contract to cater for thousands of troops cancelled.

Mr McVicker said the dispute revolved around the cancellation.

"They (Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root) all recognised we were doing nothing wrong. Their position was we just chose the wrong partner," he said.

A newspaper last week quoted an "insider" as saying a Halliburton employee wanted almost $3 million in kickbacks. The report said the contract was officially stopped because facilities had fallen behind schedule.

KBR's spokeswoman refused to answer questions but said KBR was working with government agencies and subcontractors "to address any concerns" about dining facilities.

KBR has maintained its costs were allowable.

Mr McVicker said he was unaware of the graft allegation referred to in last week's report and could not go into detail due to ongoing talks.

But corruption was rife in Iraq, he said.

"I never saw – in all of the war zones I've ever worked in – the level of corruption, the level of dealing that's gone on in Iraq," he said.

An American from a company he declined to name had demanded kickbacks.

But Mr McVicker said he would be "buggered" if he was going to pay bribes.

"In many cases it's not about ability, it's who you look after and just as equally, I have to say, whether you're an American or not," he said.

Morris has stayed in Iraq by sub-contracting to sub-contractors.

He provided catering when US President George W. Bush served turkey to troops in a surprise tour of Baghdad last year.

Morris is among Australian companies involved in everything from shipping wheat to giving economic advice which federal trade arm Austrade says has generated about $1 billion in work in Iraq.

Morris has served in hot spots including Somalia, and made headlines when gunmen murdered founder David Morris in 1995.

While The Courier-Mail could not independently verify Mr McVicker's story, numerous foreigners in Iraq have been killed or taken hostage.

Brisbane-based GRM International project manager Don Lough wore body armour and had bodyguards while working in Baghdad earlier this year. GRM was giving advice on economic matters to Iraqi officials.

"Behind the scenes, there's a lot of work going on . . . but there is a security issue," Mr Lough said.

Trade Minister Mark Vaile's office said Australian companies were getting a "fair opportunity" in Iraq.

"We always believed these contracts should be awarded on a commercial basis," a spokesman said.

Austrade manager of major projects Martin Walsh said no Australian companies had complained of kickbacks in Iraq.

Morris had a good reputation, he said.

The corruption allegations come as the United Nations investigates graft claims about its Oil for Food program.

Questions have been raised about grain supplier AWB.

An AWB spokesman yesterday said it did not pay any kickbacks, and there has never been any approach about a formal investigation.

Mr McVicker is eyeing further work in Iraq.

Even though he's "not a gun person", the highway ambush prompted him to buy an AK-47 at a market for US$60.

"Rightly or wrongly, crazy or not, I enjoy the environment of the war zone," he said.

"It tests you to the maximum to be able to do it logistically – to make it happen and make it happen well."

From: http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/
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