The scandal surrounding Halliburton's oil contracts in Iraq widened yesterday following allegations that the former US ambassador to Kuwait pressed the oil services company to direct lucrative fuel contracts to a Kuwaiti company.

Henry Waxman, top Democrat on the House government reform committee, yesterday released an e-mail revealing that Richard Jones, the former US ambassador, pressed KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, to give a fuel contract to Altanmia, a Kuwait subcontractor.