Posted on 03/26/2005 7:27:00 AM PST by StoneGiant
Fury at UN plan to pay legal fee from Iraq revenue
By Mark Turner at the United Nations
Published: March 24 2005 02:00 | Last updated: March 24 2005 02:00
Leading members of the United Nations Security Council yesterday demanded to know why the UN secretariat had offered to use Iraqi oil revenues to pay the legal fees of Benon Sevan, the disgraced former head of Iraq's oil-for-food programme.
The UN said on Tuesday that it had promised to pay Mr Sevan reasonable legal fees to ensure his co-operation with the Volcker Commission (IIC), which is investigating allegations of fraud and mismanagement in the multibillion dollar programme. It had proposed to cover the costs from a special account funded by Iraqi oil revenues to administer the oil-for-food programme.
Feisal Istrabadi, Iraq's ambassador to the UN, expressed outrage. "The idea that Iraqi state assets are being used to defray the legal fees of someone alleged to have stolen money from the people of Iraq is shameful. This is like a bank employee accused of stealing funds, and requiring the depositor to pay his legal fees."
A US official said yesterday: "Clearly there are many questions to be answered and we're trying to get to the bottom of it." Another permanent member of the Security Council said his country was investigating a "curious decision".
"When I saw that I thought, 'That's not possible'," said another diplomat. "Why should the Iraqi people pay for that? It's dreadful; the UN is making one mistake after another."
The disclosures are seen as a further blow as the UN girds itself for a new commission report next week, assessing whether Kojo Annan, son of Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, used his family connections to obtain oil-for-food inspection contracts.
The FT yesterday revealed that Cotecna, a company hired to monitor the oil-for-food shipments, had paid Kojo at least $300,000 (€229,000, £159,000) through various channels, and that Kofi Annan had met Cotecna executives on three occasions.
In its preliminary report on February 3, the commission said Mr Sevan had placed himself in "an irreconcilable conflict of interest" by participating in the selection of purchasers of Iraqi oil. Mr Sevan was subsequently suspended, pending disciplinary proceedings.
But the UN said that after the report was issued, Mark Malloch Brown, the UN's new chief of staff, told Mr Sevan that the UN would honour its commitment only up until February 3.
Mr Sevan had subsequently submitted expenses, but they were being "questioned by the United Nations on the grounds that not all costs relate to his co-operation with the IIC".
No money had yet been paid, and "if, as a result of the findings of the IIC, charges brought against Mr Sevan are vindicated", the UN said it reserved "the right to seek recovery of any money transferred".
The UN needs a new executive, a new building and a new location.
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