Indian, Middle Eastern donations to Clinton cloud Hillary’s impartiality in new role

London, Dec 19 : Former President Bill Clinton has raised millions of dollars from governments and politicians in the Middle East and Asia, raising fresh concerns about the impartiality of his wife Hillary's role as Secretary of State.

Clinton received donations ranging between 1-5 million dollars from Samajwadi Party leader; a donation in the same range from a wind turbine supplier owned by Tulsi R. Tanti, one of the wealthiest Indian businessmen, The Confederation of Indian Industry also donated between 500,000 and 1 million dollars.

The release of the list underscored the ties between the Clintons and Indian politicians and business moguls at a time when the US relationship and influence with Pakistan will be a central element of foreign policy for Barack Obama.

Donors gave at least 492 million dollars from the inception of the foundation in 1997 to the end of last year, The Times reported.

Clinton raised at least 46 million dollars from Saudi Arabia and other foreign governments for the William J. Clinton Foundation, which was created to fund his presidential library and fight poverty and disease worldwide.

The Saudi kingdom gave between 10-25 million dollars. Other governments on the list include Kuwait, Qatar, Brunei, Oman, Italy and Jamaica.

After years of refusing to divulge his donors, Clinton was forced to release the list to assuage concerns about conflict of interests between his international philanthropic fundraising efforts and the worldwide diplomatic role of his wife.

Yet the list, particularly the foreign governments and the large sums given by Saudi Arabia, will inevitably play a role at her Senate confirmation hearings next year. The list did not give exact donations - only ranges of giving - and ran to nearly 3,000 pages.

"I want to personally express my deepest appreciation to our many contributors, who remain steadfast partners in our work to impact the lives of so many around the world in measurable and meaningful ways," Clinton said. (ANI)

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