CRIMINAL PROBE EYES KOFI'S SON

NewYork Post ^ | 10/18/04 | Niles Lathem

[TexKat]

October 18, 2004 -- WASHINGTON — The son of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been targeted by a federal criminal probe into corruption of the scandal-scarred Iraq oil-for-food program, sources said. Top U.N. officials said 30-year-old Kojo Annan is among a handful of individuals and companies whose business dealings with the gigantic U.N. humanitarian aid program are now facing the white-hot scrutiny of a federal grand jury in Manhattan.

[keysguy]

We can dream but....reality will set in.

[nuconvert]

Good

[goodnesswins]

AND Kerry wants to go to the UN........

[DSBull]

Would someone tell me why would Koffi's son be in a position that would give him an opportunity to steal anything from any UN program.

I would think that people in positions of power in any organization would not give their children or relatives any positions just to eliminate any perception of impropriety.

Maybe that is only what I would do, and people like Koffi don't think that way.

Anyway, just the fact that his son was in that position ought to get him removed but probably won't, but it should get us to remove ourselves from this outdated organization.

[gunnygail]

And Kojo lives in Nigeria where he is untouchable. Nothing here folks...move on.

[gridlock]

Dear Friend,

My name is Kojo Annan. I work in the United Nations Oil for Food Program, and have recently come into a large sum of money. Unfortunately, with the instability in my native Nigeria, I need so assistance getting these funds out of the country. A mutual friend suggested your name...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I got four of these this morning.

[gridlock]

Yeah, but this one's legit...

[RightWingConspirator]

Noted that you didn't include the <sarcasm> and </sarcasm> wrappers for your posting. I hope you don't honestly believe that Kofi and his son would be above a little (or a lot of) corruption? You forget that these people were raised in the third-world and grew with even fewer scruples than a Chicago Democrat!

[DSBull]

your right, I was being sarcastic and forgot the tag..sorry.

[FreeAtlanta]

Nepotism is why many 3rd world countries are 3rd world. Coffee Airhead has made the U.N. a 3rd world organization.

[DSBull]

Then maybe the UN could move it offices to France, the world's leading 3rd world country.

[DSBull]

Oh! Speaking of France[gollum.gollum], there is a good article on FrontPage magazine.com about how France has never been an ally to the USA. Good read.

[GeekDejure]

Dear Kojo Anan,

My name is Friend. Each It !!!

[GailA]

MASTER LIST UN OIL/SEX FOR FOOD SCANDALS

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

Bump. Worth pointing out that under a President Kerry, Annan pere would be a key judge of the Global Test.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

From the Lou Dobbs Transcript: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0410/18/ldt.01.html
DOBBS: Tonight, new developments in the multibillion-dollar scandal in the United Nations oil-for-food program. Investigators are now looking at whether the scandal benefited not only Saddam Hussein, but also staff of the United Nations and the son of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Kitty Pilgrim reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.N. oil-for-food scandal is getting bigger and bigger, the accusations and the investigations.

GARDINER: We do have simultaneously at least seven or eight major investigations going on into the oil-for-food scandal, making it undoubtedly the biggest scandal in the history of the United Nations.

PILGRIM: A $4 billion ripoff, as estimated by the Government Accountability Office, and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein bilked the program under the supervision of the United Nations.

Questions now turn to the role of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's son, Kojo Annan, who at one time worked for Cotecna, one of the companies under suspicion.

Today, a U.N. spokesman was asked about the press reports of a possible federal criminal probe.

STEPHANE DUJARRIC, UNITED NATIONS SPOKESMAN: We have not received any information, either officially or unofficially, from U.S. federal, judicial authorities regarding an investigation into Mr. Annan's activities.

But I will stress that, as you know, the Voelcker panel is looking into the issue of Kojo Annan's employment with Cotecna while it was under contract for the oil-for-food program.

PILGRIM: At hearings earlier this month, Congress was outraged.

REP. TIM MURPHY (R), PENNSYLVANIA: U.N. member countries and U.N. personnel continually turned a blind eye to the corruption of a program designed to get humanitarian assistance to the people living under one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

PILGRIM: An executive from the Swiss company Cotecna answers questions at that congressional hearing earlier this month. At issue was whether the company, among others, allowed Saddam Hussein to cheat on the program.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: U.S. Representative Joe Barton, chairman of the House committee investigating the scandal, has written a letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan demanding U.N. records. He says, quote, "The evidence suggests U.N. officials and member states encouraged or at least tacitly condoned the abuses" -- Lou.

[TexKat]

BTTT