They let him off the hook. But not completely. Since it is an "in-house" report, I expect a negative reaction from Congress. But not from the NYT. The left will treat this the same way as Rather treated the report on Rathergate.
The New York Times
March 29, 2005
Oil-for-Food Report Criticizes Annan and His Son
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:41 a.m. ET
NEW YORK (AP) -- Investigators of the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq said Tuesday there was not enough evidence to show that Secretary-General Kofi Annan knew of a contract bid by his son's Swiss employer.
The report obtained by The Associated Press accused Annan's son, Kojo, and the company, Cotecna Inspection S.A., of trying to conceal their relationship after the contract was in place. It also criticized the U.N. chief for not determining the exact nature of his son's relationship with the firm.
The conclusion in the investigators' report was not the clear vindication that the secretary-general wanted, although the investigation led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker did not accuse the U.N. chief of corruption.
The report obtained Tuesday said ``there is no evidence'' the selection of Cotecna for an inspection contract ``was subject to any affirmative or improper influence of the secretary-general in the bidding or selection process.''
Investigators also said ``the evidence is not reasonably sufficient'' that Annan knew about Cotecna's bid in 1998.
The report is the second issued by the Volcker's team of investigators and comes a week after Annan called for the biggest overhaul of the United Nations in its 60-year history.
The report found that Kojo Annan was not forthcoming with either his father or the committee and accused him of consistently trying to hide the nature of his relationship with Cotecna.
It said there still were ``significant questions'' about Kojo Annan's business dealings with respect to the program, and an investigation was continuing.
In a letter annexed to the report, Kojo Annan's lawyer, William R. Taylor, rejected any claim that his client had not been wholly cooperative with the committee. But Taylor admitted that Kojo Annan had not told his father the entire truth.
``Mr. Annan has consistently acknowledged that he was not completely candid with his father when the Cotecna-U.N. contract first attracted publicity in late January 1999,'' Taylor wrote. ``He regrets the embarrassment that omission caused to his father and to the United Nations and accepts responsibility for it.''
The oil-for-food program was the largest U.N. humanitarian aid operation, running in 1996-2003. Saddam Hussein's government was allowed to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian goods as an exemption from U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
In a bid to curry favor and end sanctions, Saddam allegedly gave former government officials, activists, journalists and U.N. officials vouchers for Iraqi oil that could then be resold at a profit. U.S. congressional investigators say Saddam's regime may have illegally made more than $21 billion by cheating the program and other sanctions-busting schemes.
Senior U.N. officials have insisted the secretary-general has no intention of stepping down, and U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard has dismissed reports describing the secretary-general as weak and depressed.
Volcker also is investigating Benon Sevan, who headed the oil-for-food program. He has promised a final report in mid-summer.
In his first report in February, Volcker accused Sevan of a ``grave conflict of interest,'' saying his conduct in soliciting oil deals from Iraq was ``ethically improper and seriously undermined the integrity of the United Nations.'' He also questioned where Sevan got $160,000 in cash, calling it ``unexplained wealth'' despite Sevan's claim it came from his aunt.
Sevan's attorney has said he did nothing wrong.
Kojo Annan worked for Cotecna in West Africa from 1995 to December 1997 and then as a consultant until the end of 1998 -- just when it won the oil-for-food contract. He remained on the Cotecna payroll until 2004 on a contract to prevent him from working for a competitor in Nigeria or Ghana, but that was only disclosed in November.
At the time, the secretary-general said he was ``very disappointed and surprised'' that his son continued to receive money.
Cotecna initially said Kojo Annan was only employed until 1998. It released details of his payments only last week, after a report in the Financial Times and the Italian business daily Il Sole 24 said he received more than $300,000, double the amount previously reported.
Cotecna spokesman Seth Goldschlager told the AP last week that Kojo Annan got more than $365,000 from the company -- about $200,000 as a full-time employee and consultant from 1995-1998 and more than $165,000 from 1999 until February 2004 under the so-called ``non-compete'' contract.
He also disclosed that Volcker sought payment records from five companies linked to the firm for the years 1996 to 2004. The Swiss accounting firm BDO Visura is currently conducting an audit, expected to be completed at the end of April.
Goldschlager also confirmed reports in the two papers of three meetings between Kofi Annan and Cotecna executives and disclosed a fourth contact. Two were in social settings, one in Annan's U.N. office and one after the Cotecna contract was signed.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press |
