By David Nason In New York
March 31, 2005
From: The Australian
It is an unfortunate situation, but I think it would be very detrimental for the UN and international relations in general if Annan were pressured to quit.
March 31, 2005
From: The Australian
KOFI Annan is facing calls to resign after a report into his son's links with a company embroiled in the UN's oil-for-food scandal revealed that documents held in the Secretary-General's office were ordered destroyed the day after the Security Council approved an official inquiry.
The shredding of documents covering the crucial period from 1997 to 1999 - during which the Swiss company that employed Kojo Annan as a consultant was awarded a lucrative UN contract in Iraq - was ordered by Kofi Annan's former chief of staff Iqbal Riza last April and continued until December 7.
Ten days before the shredding order, Mr Riza had sent the heads of nine UN-related agencies a directive to "take all necessary steps to collect, preserve and secure all files, records and documents ... relating to the oil-for-food program".
Mr Riza claimed duplicates of the destroyed documents were held elsewhere.
Paul Volcker, the former US Federal Reserve chairman who led the inquiry, said of the shredding: "Whether that material contained any evidence that we did not otherwise get from UN files more generally is, of course, not known."
The new revelations place renewed pressure on Mr Annan, despite Mr Volcker's finding that he did not interfere with a 1998 tender process that resulted in Cotecna Inspections winning a $US10 million ($13 million) oil-for-food contract to verify shipments of goods into Iraq.
Mr Volcker found Cotecna won the tender because it put in the lowest bid. He also found insufficient evidence that Mr Annan even knew his son's employer was a bidder.
This was despite Mr Annan's admission that he twice met Cotecna boss Elie-Georges Massey before the contract was awarded and was a lifelong friend of Michael Wilson, a Cotecna marketing executive based in Africa.
Mr Annan claimed the findings as a personal victory, telling a packed UN press conference: "After so many distressing and untrue allegations against me, this exoneration by the independent inquiry comes as a great relief."
But the shredding of the documents, the portrayal of his son as a dishonest and discredited liar - a embarrassment that was clearly distressing to the Secretary-General - and scathing criticism by Mr Volcker of Mr Annan's role in a farcical one-day internal inquiry into Cotecna-related conflict-of-interest allegations, continue to raise doubts about his capacity to lead the world body.
Mr Volcker said Mr Annan should have ensured a more rigorous, independent inquiry into the conflict-of-interest claims when they were first raised in the media in early 1999. Mr Volcker speculated that Cotecna would not have had its contract renewed had that occurred.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the US would "continue to support the Secretary-General in his work at the UN".
But longtime critic Norm Coleman, a Republican senator from Minnesota and chairman of the Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations, said the Volcker report confirmed Mr Annan's lack of accountability and called on him to resign immediately.
Asked if the UN would be better off if he resigned, Mr Annan said: "Hell, no. I've got lots of work to do and I'm going to go ahead and do it."
The Volcker report found Kojo Annan worked for Cotecna from 1995 to 1998 but was paid large amounts of money until 2003, possibly in excess of $US300,000.
Throughout this time he had "actively participated" with Cotecna officials in a cover-up of his true relationship with the company.
After his employment with the firm was first revealed in early 1999, Cotecna disguised payments to the Secretary-General's son through other companies and even a Swiss soccer club. "Significant questions remain about the integrity of Kojo Annan's business and financial dealings with regard to the (oil-for-food) program, and the investigation of these matters is continuing," the report said.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12709222-38200,00.html
The shredding of documents covering the crucial period from 1997 to 1999 - during which the Swiss company that employed Kojo Annan as a consultant was awarded a lucrative UN contract in Iraq - was ordered by Kofi Annan's former chief of staff Iqbal Riza last April and continued until December 7.
Ten days before the shredding order, Mr Riza had sent the heads of nine UN-related agencies a directive to "take all necessary steps to collect, preserve and secure all files, records and documents ... relating to the oil-for-food program".
Mr Riza claimed duplicates of the destroyed documents were held elsewhere.
Paul Volcker, the former US Federal Reserve chairman who led the inquiry, said of the shredding: "Whether that material contained any evidence that we did not otherwise get from UN files more generally is, of course, not known."
The new revelations place renewed pressure on Mr Annan, despite Mr Volcker's finding that he did not interfere with a 1998 tender process that resulted in Cotecna Inspections winning a $US10 million ($13 million) oil-for-food contract to verify shipments of goods into Iraq.
Mr Volcker found Cotecna won the tender because it put in the lowest bid. He also found insufficient evidence that Mr Annan even knew his son's employer was a bidder.
This was despite Mr Annan's admission that he twice met Cotecna boss Elie-Georges Massey before the contract was awarded and was a lifelong friend of Michael Wilson, a Cotecna marketing executive based in Africa.
Mr Annan claimed the findings as a personal victory, telling a packed UN press conference: "After so many distressing and untrue allegations against me, this exoneration by the independent inquiry comes as a great relief."
But the shredding of the documents, the portrayal of his son as a dishonest and discredited liar - a embarrassment that was clearly distressing to the Secretary-General - and scathing criticism by Mr Volcker of Mr Annan's role in a farcical one-day internal inquiry into Cotecna-related conflict-of-interest allegations, continue to raise doubts about his capacity to lead the world body.
Mr Volcker said Mr Annan should have ensured a more rigorous, independent inquiry into the conflict-of-interest claims when they were first raised in the media in early 1999. Mr Volcker speculated that Cotecna would not have had its contract renewed had that occurred.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the US would "continue to support the Secretary-General in his work at the UN".
But longtime critic Norm Coleman, a Republican senator from Minnesota and chairman of the Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations, said the Volcker report confirmed Mr Annan's lack of accountability and called on him to resign immediately.
Asked if the UN would be better off if he resigned, Mr Annan said: "Hell, no. I've got lots of work to do and I'm going to go ahead and do it."
The Volcker report found Kojo Annan worked for Cotecna from 1995 to 1998 but was paid large amounts of money until 2003, possibly in excess of $US300,000.
Throughout this time he had "actively participated" with Cotecna officials in a cover-up of his true relationship with the company.
After his employment with the firm was first revealed in early 1999, Cotecna disguised payments to the Secretary-General's son through other companies and even a Swiss soccer club. "Significant questions remain about the integrity of Kojo Annan's business and financial dealings with regard to the (oil-for-food) program, and the investigation of these matters is continuing," the report said.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12709222-38200,00.html
It is an unfortunate situation, but I think it would be very detrimental for the UN and international relations in general if Annan were pressured to quit.
