Posted on 06/14/2005 10:25:03 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
The Iraq oil-for-food inquiry says it is "urgently reviewing" new material on the UN secretary-general's alleged ties to a firm monitoring the programme. A memo by Swiss firm Cotecna published this week describes a meeting between Kofi Annan and its executives in 1998, weeks before the contract was awarded.
Mr Annan has denied prior knowledge of Cotecna's bid for the contract, though his son worked there as a consultant. A previous inquiry report found that the UN head had not helped Cotecna.
However, Mr Annan was criticised for failing to look into the possibility of a conflict of interest. And his son Kojo was found to have "intentionally deceived" his father about his financial relationship with the company. 'Collective advice' The inquiry committee said in a statement it would "conduct additional investigation regarding this new information". The December 1998 memo by Michael Wilson, at the time a senior Cotecna executive, mentions brief discussions with Mr Annan and his "entourage" during a summit in Paris the previous month. The memo, published by the New York Times and later confirmed as authentic by Cotecna, was apparently found three weeks ago during a search of the Geneva-based company's archives.
It said that the UN officials gave "collective advice" to the company that "we could count on their support". But a Cotecna consultant told the newspaper no senior company officials had any recollection of the memo and that it appeared to contradict what the company had said. UN spokesman Fred Eckhard, meanwhile, said he could not confirm that the meeting took place. "We spoke to the secretary-general who is in Paris today, and he has no recollection of any such exchange," he told AP news agency. Any information would be sent exclusively to the inquiry committee's chairman, Paul Volcker, he said. The final version of the inquiry's report is due out in the next few months.
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Nice pick, but I don't wanna know whose hand is up Koffi's butt working him, okay?
OMG rack it Ernest
Paging Fox news Jonathn Smith LOL!
You gotta give it up for the Kofe, he gives the best "I can't believe you're accusing me" look of ANYONE in politics.
Around the U.N.'s corridors, Annan was privately referred to as "Clinton's boy."
I'll spare you the visual.
"Clinton's boy"? Which Clinton? Far as I can tell, neither of them likes boys. :)
Kofi just can't seem to escape these little demons . .
AP: Memo Suggests Oil-For-Food Link to Annan ~~ Evening Update
<< Nice pick, but I don't wanna know whose hand is up Koffi's butt working him, okay? >>
That's an easy one. These jokers have their hand up the butt of every American enemy: www.socialistinternational.org
Normie Coleman said Koffi would lose his job.
Can't wait to see it.
I would hate to see that happen!
And with Hilary as Pres we'd all be doomed.
"I cannot recall."
Where have I heard that before?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1417229/posts
Saddam's Aides: Singing 'Like a Canary'(Newsweak)
msnbc - newsweek ^ | June 13 2005 | -Mark Hosenball
Posted on 06/05/2005 9:40:25 PM PDT by Deetes
June 13 issue - Some of Saddam Hussein's most notorious former lieutenants have been dishing dirt. Senate investigators looking into prewar U.N. Oil-for-Food deals have named Saddam's former personal secretary and security chief, Abid Hamid Mahmoud al-Tikriti, former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan and former foreign minister Tariq Aziz as key witnesses who have provided inside info about Saddam's regime.
Senate staffers traveled to Baghdad earlier this year to interview Iraqi officials, and their reports are among the first official accounts of what captured Iraqi leaders are saying. "In interview after interview, the officials were generally forthcoming and quite proudeven boastfulof their creativity in undermining U.N. sanctions," says Sen. Norm Coleman, who leads one of several congressional probes into Saddam-era oil deals. According to Senate documents, Ramadan is one of the most talkative captives, supplying pithy quotes about how Saddam allegedly manipulated the prewar oil program to buy support from influential foreigners. Senate investigators quote Ramadan saying that Saddam's regime gave foreigners oil allocationswhich could be cashed in for lucrative brokerage feesas "compensation for support." Al-Tikriti told investigators the former Iraqi leader and his aides "were all extremists" on the issue of oil sales to Israel. If they found an Iraqi oil buyer was selling to Israel, they would "not allow it," al-Tikriti said
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