Executives from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly could be interviewed by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as part of its investigation into allegations that British companies paid bribes to Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.

The drugs groups confirmed yesterday that they had received requests from the SFO for documentation in connection with its inquiry into the United Nations Oil-For-Food programme, under which medicines were supplied to Iraq in 2003. The companies said that they were cooperating with the SFO, which launched its investigation at the beginning of the year and said that they had nothing to hide.

The inquiry was prompted by a UN report in 2005 by Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, who listed more than 2,000 companies worldwide that could have been involved with bribes paid to the former Iraqi regime to secure contracts under the UN programme.

The programme was designed to allow Iraq to sell a limited amount of oil to buy food and medicines from foreign companies. Mr Volcker said that Saddam’s regime had demanded rewards from companies in return for contracts. According to the report, there was evidence that suggested that AstraZeneca had paid kickbacks of $162,000 (£81,000) to secure $2.9 million of contracts. GSK was accused of paying $1 million for business worth $11.9 million.

When the SFO has digested the material that it has requested, including e-mails, faxes, contracts and invoices, it must decide whether there is enough evidence to interview executives of the companies. A source close to one of the pharmaceutical groups said that no request had been received, adding: “It’s a long-winded process and it could be some time before the SFO is in a position to reach any conclusions.”

The source confirmed that previously the drugs groups had been asked to supply information by authorities in the United States, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and by the Department for Trade and Industry, now the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

In a statement, GSK said: “GSK does not believe that its employees or its agents in Iraq knowingly engaged in wrongdoing regarding the Oil-For-Food programme. In fact, GSK went to considerable lengths to cooperate with UK government authorities responsible for the UK administration of the programme, and to impose anticorruption measures when dealing with intermediaries in Iraq at a time when the environment was extremely volatile and difficult.”

AstraZeneca, which has refuted any suggestion of unethical behaviour, said that it had received “a request from the Serious Fraud Office for documents as part of its review of the Oil-For-Food programme in Iraq. The company will be providing the documentation.”

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