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Memo Seems to Link Annan to Contract of Son's Company By JUDITH MILLER A memo written by someone who was then an executive of a major contractor in the United Nations oil-for-food program states that he briefly discussed the company's effort to win the contract in late 1998 with Secretary General Kofi Annan and his "entourage" and that the executive was told that "we could count on their support." The secretary general's son, Kojo Annan, was employed by Cotecna Inspection Services, a Swiss contractor based in Geneva, and the nature of that relationship is among the issues being investigated by...

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan did not initially tell investigators in the oil-for-food probe that he met twice with representatives of his son's employer as the Swiss company began soliciting United Nations business. Annan's omissions last November raised credibility concerns with the chief investigator, Robert Parton, that persisted even after Annan later provided his recollections about the meetings. Investigators had uncovered the contacts in calendars recovered from computers, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The Associated Press. Parton sought to make an issue of Annan's veracity, concluding the U.N. chief wasn't initially forthcoming and his story evolved as new facts...

Kofi Annan is not a crook. Or, to be more precise, the United Nations Secretary-General has not been convicted of criminal activity. If that's so, however, Mr. Annan has to be the most negligent and incompetent manager ever to lead a major international organization. Yet through the cloud that hangs over Mr. Annan, a ray of sunshine has found its way to him. Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania, that prestigious Ivy League seat of learning, has invited Mr. Annan to serve as this year's commencement speaker. And that's not all: In what can only be seen as...

If Kofi Annan keeps his job after Congress reviews the information that they subpeonaed from former OFF investigator Robert Parton. Parton, who after a subpoena from Henry Hyde, gave congress everything they wanted, and the UN aint to happy about it. The Oil For Food fiasco has to go down as one of the biggest clusterducks in the history of the UN. The idea was that Saddam could sell oil in exchange for food, medicine and other essentials needed by the Iraqi people, only it didn't happen. Saddam cut deals with everyone, including a few Americans to finegal all sorts...

Like its cousin, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, Rwanda's stunning new genocide museum, perched on a quiet hillside overlooking Kigali, is at its most arresting when it honours the lost children. One installation invites us to consider David, a cute, shy boy, with big round black eyes: David's favourite sport was soccer; he enjoyed making people laugh; his dream was to be a doctor; he was tortured to death; his last words were: 'The UN will come to get us.' Next to David's biography is Ariane's, four, stabbed in the eyes and head; Fillette, also four, smashed against a wall;...

IN THE EPIC UNITED NATIONS Oil-for-Food scandal, we now have a moment of high farce, with what will surely be remembered as Kofi Annan's "Hell, no" press conference--named for the secretary general's belligerent answer on March 29 to a reporter who, quite appropriately, wondered if Annan shouldn't think about resigning sometime soon. The U.N.-authorized inquiry into Oil-for-Food wrongdoing, led by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, clocked in last Tuesday with its second interim report on a program now infamous as the biggest fraud in the history of humanitarian aid. That same afternoon, Annan summoned the media to the blue-curtained...

UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, asked Tuesday if he would resign after a critical report concerning the oil-for-food scandal in Iraq, replied, "Hell, no." Annan was speaking after the release of a report by investigators, who said Tuesday there was not enough evidence to show that Annan knew of a contract bid by his son's employer for the oil-for-food program in Iraq. However, they criticized the U.N. chief for not properly investigating possible conflicts of interest in the matter. While Annan said he accepted that criticism, he was happy with the report's findings he committed no wrongdoing. "After...

The word out of the UK is that poor Kofi Annan is depressed, and may be close to calling it quits. How sad. How did things go so horribly wrong for Kofi? Just a few years ago he was the darling of the world community, taking pot shots at President Bush and the US at will. Dictators and tyrants everywhere loved to hear Kofi tell the world that the war in Iraq was unjust, knowing that If justice came knocking at their door, Kofi would side with them. Now things are getting interesting. First of is the issue with Kofi's...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker will release a report March 29 on whether the U.N. chief and his son were involved in wrongdoing over the Iraqi oil-for-food program, officials said Monday. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday that he had no expectations about the report from Volcker, who is heading an investigation into the troubled program. "I will wait to see the report, which I understand will come out by the end of this month," Annan told reporters. Kojo Annan was employed in Africa by the Swiss company, Cotecna Inspection SA, which had a...

On Sunday, the head of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers, resigned under pressure after he was found guilty of misconduct for the sexual harassment of a subordinate female worker at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Secretary General Kofi Annan reportedly read the report showing clear evidence of Commissioner Lubbers's conduct and did nothing about it. It seems that protecting the reputation of a friend was more important to Annan than protecting the people who work for the UN. This is unacceptable. When will Annan resign? Unfortunately, this is not the UN's only...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 - The Senate subcommittee on investigations says it has documents showing that the former head of the United Nations oil-for-food aid program may have made as much as $1.2 million personally from illegal oil shipments by Iraq. The officials said in a briefing on Capitol Hill late Monday that they based the conclusion on documents written by the Iraqi Oil Ministry under Saddam Hussein and on reports prepared for the new oil minister after Mr. Hussein was overthrown in 2003. A subcommittee hearing about the oil-for-food program is to take place on Tuesday. An independent investigation...

U.N. Blood Money: Kofi Annan Under Fire — Sun. 9pm ET Did high U.N. officials receive oil handouts from Saddam? Were secret weapons financed with U.N. blood money? And, the biggest question of all: Where does the buck stop in this scandal? In-depth reports from FNC's Eric Shawn and Jonathan Hunt make this another must-see!

The U.N. oil-for-food program chief under scrutiny for alleged corruption and mismanagement blocked a proposed audit of his office around the same time he's accused of soliciting lucrative oil deals from Iraq, according to investigators. A U.N. auditing team, which was severely understaffed, said running the $64 billion oil-for-food program was "a high risk activity" and a priority for review. But Benon Sevan denied the internal auditors' request to hire a consultant to examine his office in May 2001 - an act top investigators of the program are now calling into question. "I think the auditors thought they were steered...

So much for the worry that Paul Volcker's probe into the U.N. Oil for Food scandal would be a "whitewash." After taking the time to read the 246-page interim report (link in PDF) the former Fed chairman issued late last week, we think his revelations have if anything been underplayed. To wit: • Oil for Food program director Benon Sevan behaved unethically and then lied about it, and he hasn't adequately explained $160,000 he received. • There is "convincing and uncontested evidence" that the selection of the program's "three prime contractors" did not conform to U.N. rules or to general...

While United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan was patently ignoring a President Robert Mugabe oppressed Zimbabwe, his son, Kojo was making money building the Zimbabwean capitol’s airport. Mugabe runs the ZANU-PF, a regime that Condoleeza Rice labels an outpost of tyranny. Why Kojo Annan’s business activities in Zimbabwe have not surfaced in the ongoing probe of the Oil-For-Food Program should surely raise concern about both the integrity and sincerity of the investigation. It’s a global village as far as Kojo’s business agenda is concerned. First came West Africa where Annan’s youngest son was working for the Swiss-based Cotecna with ties...

The son of Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary-General, lobbied for business contacts at gatherings of UN officials on behalf of a company in the same year as it won an oil-for-food programme deal, it has emerged. The second disclosure in a week about Kojo Annan's role with the Swiss company Cotecna Inspection Services, which secured the $4.8 million (£2.46 million) UN contract to monitor goods entering and leaving Iraq in 1998, has raised embarrassing questions for his father. The details were revealed in Cotecna company documents handed over under subpoena to US congressional scrutineers who are investigating the oil-for-food...

2005 SESSION 05-0002 05/01 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1 A RESOLUTION urging Congress to withdraw the United States from the United Nations. SPONSORS: Rep. Albert, Straf 1; Rep. Matthew Quandt, Rock 13; Rep. Hawkins, Hills 18; Rep. Buhlman, Hills 27; Rep. Headd, Rock 3; Sen. Boyce, Dist 4; Sen. Roberge, Dist 9 COMMITTEE: State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs ANALYSIS This resolution urges Congress to withdraw the United States from the United Nations. 05-0002 05/01 STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five A RESOLUTION urging Congress to withdraw the United States from the United Nations. Whereas, the...

<p>CAN you picture Bill Clinton as Kofi Annan's replacement as Secretary-General of the U.N.? Insiders say the former president agreed to partner up with his predecessor, No. 41, George H.W. Bush, in the tsunami relief effort partly for the international awareness to position him for the U.N. job. Clinton, who has been relatively low-profile since leaving the White House, is said to be ready for a new challenge now that he's finished with his autobiography. Assuming that Clinton's popularity in Africa and Europe would win the approval of the Security Council, the only fly in the ointment is the complications for wife Hillary's presidential hopes in 2008. "No one in the U.N. would want the President of the United States to be married to the head of the U.N., and therefore in control of Security Council votes," said one observer. Conversely, Americans wouldn't like the idea that the U.N. would be calling the shots in the Oval Office.</p>

A UN-ordered probe into Iraq oil-for-food corruption is being seriously hampered by an elaborate system of ghost firms set up around the world to cover the tracks of bribes to Saddam Hussein as he cheated the 60 billion dollar (£31.4 billion) program, a top investigator said. Some front companies that dealt with Saddam have been liquidated or have hidden ownership, complicating the search for evidence of financial improprieties, said Swiss criminal lawyer Mark Pieth. He’s one of three commission members leading the probe headed by former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker. Major oil trading companies and individuals – from...

And how does Kojo attempt to defend himself? By blaming Republicans. For a "witch hunt." "I feel the whole issue has been a witch hunt from Day One, as part of a broader Republican agenda," Annan said Tuesday. "What will U.S. senators have to say if there is . . . no substance to the allegations against my father and me?"