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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (40093)	3/29/2005 3:18:28 PM
From: geode00	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 173976

Report clears Annan over oil-for-food scandal UN secretary-general Kofi Annan came under new fire on Tuesday over a report that raised "serious questions" about his son Kojo's dealings with the scandal-plagued oil for food program in Iraq. A commission of inquiry found the UN chief did not improperly influence the awarding of a contract to Swiss firm Cotecna, which employed Kojo, but said Mr Annan's investigation into a possible conflict of interest was "inadequate". Kojo Annan also actively tried to cover up his financial dealings with Cotecna and deceived the secretary-general about them, said the panel headed by former US federal reserve banking chief Paul Volcker. It added that the secretary-general's former chief of staff ordered the shredding of three years of documents, which could have been potential evidence, one day after the UN Security Council approved the Volcker probe. Revelations about wrongdoing in the UN's $US64 billion oil-for-food program, which oversaw oil sales by the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, have embarrassed the United Nations and led to calls for Mr Annan's resignation. The secretary-general expressed his "relief" after saying he had been exonerated by the inquiry. "I was absolutely confident that a thorough inquiry would clear me of any wrongdoing. The committee has now done so," Mr Annan told a press conference after the release of the investigation's interim report. "This exoneration by the independent enquiry obviously comes as a great relief," he said. Mr Annan says he will not resign as head of the UN and indicated he would continue to work to push through his ambitious reform plan. Evidence "There is no evidence that the selection of Cotecna in 1998 was subject to any affirmative or improper influence of the secretary-general in the bidding or selection process," the Volcker report said. It said the evidence was "not reasonably sufficient" that Mr Annan knew in 1998 that Cotecna was bidding on an oil-for-food contract to inspect goods being shipped into Iraq. But after the firm's contract was reported in the media in January 1999, Kojo Annan "actively participated in efforts by Cotecna to conceal the true nature of its continuing relationship with him," the report said. It was later revealed that Kojo continued to receive payments from Cotecna as part of a "non-compete" agreement, long after his employment by the firm was said to have ended. "He also intentionally deceived the secretary-general about this continuing financial relationship," the Volcker panel said. "Serious questions remain about Kojo Annan's actions during the fall of 1998 as well as the integrity of his business dealings with respect to the oil-for-food program," it said. Furthermore, if Mr Annan had ordered a thorough investigation of a possible conflict of interest, Cotecna's contract "likely" would not have been renewed, the panel said. Document shredding The interim report, to be followed by a final report in the coming months, also found that Mr Annan's then chief of staff Iqbal Riza, ordered the destruction of documents in April 2004. The documents were of "potential relevance" to the Volcker commission, it said. "The timing of this destruction order is striking because of Mr Riza's awareness of the committee's pending investigations," it said, adding that the destruction continued more than seven months after Mr Annan ordered all files to be preserved. The enduring scandal, which has been going on since early last year, has cast a shadow over the United Nations and raised questions about Mr Annan's ability to lead the world body through his reform proposals. The Volcker panel last month found that Benon Sevan, who headed the program until it was shut down in 2003, had received Iraqi oil from Saddam Hussein's regime and steered it to a friend's company. The investigation into Kojo Annan and Benon Sevan is continuing, the panel said.