Washington: Former Enron senior executives ducked the fire of lawmakers' questioning, pleading ignorance or flat out refusing to testify on dubious financial transactions that ultimately brought the energy giant to its knees.

Drilled by a panel of skeptical lawmakers, former Enron president and CEO Jeffrey Skilling on February 7 repeatedly said he did not recall meetings and denied wrongdoing surrounding financial partnerships that apparently hid losses.

"Today, after thousands of people have lost jobs, thousands of people have lost money, and, most tragically, my best friend has taken his own life, it all looks different," Skilling said, in a reference to former Enron vice-chairman Cliff Baxter.

But, he said, he knew nothing of more than one billion in hidden losses discovered by Enron's in-house investigation.

Skilling at least agreed to speak to the House panel investigating Enron's spectacular fall. Others stood, raised their right hands, swore to tell the truth, then promptly invoked their Constitutional right not to testify before Congress on the grounds that their testimony could be used against them in a court of Law.

The Enron collapse, marked by the largest corporate bankruptcy in US history, left thousands unemployed, wiped out the pension savings of thousands more, and yet seemed to have left senior staff unscathed.

Among those refusing to answer questions were Andrew Fastow, former chief financial officer, Michael Kopper, former managing director of Enron Global Finance, Richard Buy, chief risk officer, and Richard Causey, chief accounting officer.