FIRE THE UN BOSS; KOFI ANNAN MUST STEP DOWN EDITORIAL FROM NEW YORK OBSERVER: Sometimes what doesn't make the newspapers and television news programs is news all by itself. Take, for example, the almost total lack of media coverage of the recently disclosed fact that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's son, Kojo Annan, once worked for, and was later a consultant to, the Swiss-based firm Cotecna, which the U.N. hired to monitor Iraq's oil-for-food program. The fact that the U.N. gave a contract to a company which employed the secretary general's son-and which itself had been implicated in previous bribery scandals-is suspicious on its own. And now the world is learning that the oil-for-food program, which was put into place to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people during the years of sanctions, may have been a multibillion-dollar scam, allegedly involving kickbacks, political payoffs and other unpleasantness that reportedly put over $2 billion into the pockets of Saddam Hussein and favored European, Arab, Russian and Chinese companies-money that should have gone to feed Iraqi children. http://www.observer.com/pages/story.asp?ID=8842 Warren Hoge NYT Wednesday, April 21, 2004 Among the people named in documents that have emerged in Iraq are Benon Sevan, a UN official who headed the oil-for-food program and allegedly accepted oil allotments himself. He has denied the charges. The documents also showed that Kojo Annan, the secretary general's son, was a consultant for Cotecna, a Swiss company contracted by the program. UN officials say an investigation in January, 1999 by Joseph Connor, then-undersecretary general for management, showed that no one handling the contract was aware of the affiliation. The Security Council began the oil-for-food program in December 1996 to enable Iraq to sell oil to ease the impact of the sanctions imposed after the Persian Gulf war in 1991. The proceeds were to go to the purchase of food and other goods, but they ended up funding an open bazaar of payoffs, favoritism and kickbacks with systematic smuggling, illegal surcharges and inflated port fees. http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:wFclb6SXcKAJ:www.iht.com/articles/516139.htm+kOJO+aNNAN&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 PERSONAL - Annan has been married to his second wife, Nane Lagergren, a Swedish lawyer and judge, since 1984. Annan has two children, Ama and Kojo from his first marriage to a Nigerian woman that ended in divorce. Lagergren also has a daughter, Nina, from her previous marriage. Annan and Lagergren live in New York. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/people/pop-up.php?ID=141 THE WHITEWASH UNFOLDS: INDEPENDENT INQUIRY WILL YIELD FACTS ON IRAQ OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAMME - ANNAN New York, Apr 22 2004 2:00PM Secretary-General Kofi Annan today voiced confidence that an independent panel into allegations of corruption in the United Nations Oil for Food Program will yield results, and voiced hope that its work would proceed apace. "I'm very keen on Mr. [Paul] Volcker, Judge [Richard] Goldstone and Mr. [Mark] Pieth to really get to work and give us a report as soon as possible," the Secretary-General the press this morning, referring to the members pursuing the inquiry. Responding to a question about the former head of the Programme, Benon Sevan, who has been the subject of numerous allegations in the press, Mr. Annan said, "He should and will be available for the investigation, and we are discussing how to make sure that he will be available." "He has indicated he will cooperate as I expect all other staff members to cooperate," the Secretary-General emphasized. Mr. Annan also underscored the value of the relief effort for Iraq. "It is unfortunate that there have been so many allegations, and some of it is being handled as if they were facts, and this is why we need to have this investigation done," he said. "In all this what has been lost is the fact that the Oil-for-Food Programme did provide relief to the Iraqi population; every household was touched," he said. "With the government, we set up one of the best distribution systems, to such an extent that even some suggested we should use the distribution cards for elections, to show you how pervasive [it was], so that should not be overlooked." Begun in 1997, UN Oil for Food Programme, over the course of six years, oversaw the delivery of some $39 billion worth of humanitarian assistance. Virtually all Iraqis benefited from the country-wide food network, and 60 per cent were totally dependent upon the food assistance. The nutritional value of their daily food basket nearly doubled between 1996 and 2002, to about 2,200 kilocalories per person per day. During the same period, malnutrition rates of children under five fell by half in the centre/south; and in the northern governorates, chronic malnutrition fell by 56 per cent, with a 44 per cent reduction in the incidence of underweight children. "The fact that may have been wrongdoing by a few should not destroy the work that many hard working UN staff did." He also pointed out the importance of distinguishing who was responsible for illegal activities. "If the Iraqi government has smuggled oil and done all sorts of things, I don't think it is fair to lump it all together and blame the UN and the Secretariat, because there are things that were definitely beyond our control, not only the Secretariat, but even the Member States." "Once the issues have been looked at and separated, I hope people will put things in perspective and will be able to get the facts out," he said. Mr. Annan also repeated his earlier pledge to act against those found to have committed any wrongdoing. "As I said, if UN staff are found to be guilty, we will deal with them very severely."              Printer-friendly version Click here to be added to our mailing list.