TotalFinaElf has launched an independent review of its safety and ethical standards as it attempts to shed its controversial image. The French oil group has come under fire from a mixture of non-governmental organisations, safety regulators and some shareholders because of its links with regimes in Iran, Iraq and Libya, as well as its accident record...Mr Cordier [Jean-Pierre Cordier, head of Total's ethics committee] said that Total had no plans to abandon any of its more sensitive operations. Of Burma, its most controversial, he said: "We could pull out, but what would happen? Would it improve the situation?"