KOFI: SCANDAL S-OIL-ING U.N.
New York Post ^ | 10/22/04 | NILES LATHEM
 

Posted on 10/21/2004 11:53:40 PM PDT by kattracks
 
 

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday massive scrutiny over the Iraq oil-for-food scandal has hurt his organization's credibility.
"There is no doubt that the constant campaign has and the discussions have hurt the U.N," he told reporters at U.N. Headquarters. "That is not something we would like. It has done damage, yes." Annan spoke after meeting with Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve Board chief whom he appointed in May to head an independent commission to investigate the scandal.

[snip]

Later in the day, Volcker said he was making progress but won't issue a final report until next year.

Among immediate priorities, he said, are determining whether Benon Sevan, the head of the U.N. oil-for-food program, and Annan's 30-year-old son, Kojo, engaged in corrupt practices.

The younger Annan was employed by Swiss-based Cotecna Sa, a company that won $6 million worth of U.N. contracts to inspect shipments of food and medicine shipped into Iraq under the oil-for-food program.