Former US president Bill Clinton has disclosed big-ticket donors to his charitable foundation, including numerous foreign governments and business interests.
Clinton was prompted to reveal the names of more than 200,000 donors in a bid to stem fears for his wife Hillary Clinton’s nomination to become US secretary of state under incoming president Barack Obama.
Her confirmation could come under closer scrutiny over the appearance of conflict of interest over the foundation, which promotes efforts to fight disease, poverty and climate change around the world.
The disclosures on Thursday include the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia giving 10 to 25-million-dollars in donations, and other Middle Eastern governments giving multi-million-dollar contributions.
The exact figures of the donations are not provided by the foundation and organizations are instead grouped in spending categories.
The governments of Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Brunei gave the fund one to five million dollars each.
"Such contributions could provoke suspicion at home and abroad among those wondering about any effect on administration policy," and could raise concern about whether Clinton had conflicts of interest, commented The New York Times newspaper on Thursday.
The revelations also included Blackwater Training Center of the US security firm Blackwater Worldwide, a State Department contractor in Iraq, which donated 10,001 to 25,000 dollars.
Five Blackwater guards were charged in early December with the September 2007 killings of 14 Iraqi civilians at Baghdad’s Nisur Square.
Donors with ties to Indian interests were also represented.
The United States faces the delicate task of easing rising tensions between nuclear powers Pakistan and India following the deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month.
Indian politician Amar Singh, for example, donated one to five million dollars.
The nonprofit William J. Clinton Foundation was created by Clinton in 1997.
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