Saddam Hussein personally oversaw a scheme that directed secret oil gifts to hundreds of individuals and companies around the world that he believed could help have United Nations sanctions lifted, according to the chief US weapons inspector.

A report from Charles Duelfer, head of the Iraq Survey Group charged with looking for weapons of mass destruction after last year's US-led invasion, describes the granting of oil allocations as part of an effort to give others an economic stake in the regime's survival.