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Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned Thursday that military action against Iran would be "a real disaster" and said the Middle East could explode if the international community doesn't handle the many conflicts in the region very carefully. He also said there was "quite a bit of hypocrisy on all sides" in trying to resolve the five-year conflict in Sudan's Darfur region — especially in encouraging the African Union to take on peacekeeping when it didn't have the resources. At a wide-ranging round-table with journalists, Annan said he didn't have enough information to comment on the justification for the U.N....

UNITED NATIONS -- A day after a senior U.N. official was indicted on bribery charges, the United Nations management chief said Thursday an investigation into corruption was "at full throttle" and he urged anyone with relevant information to cooperate. "The dominoes are beginning to fall," undersecretary-general for management Christopher Burnham told the Associated Press. "Anyone with information about corruption anywhere in the U.N. needs to come forward now before the dominoes reach them," he added. Burnham, who has been instrumental in pressing investigations into corruption especially in U.N. procurement activities, said the corruption probe goes beyond the procurement department. "This...

The Bolton Plan: If Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R.-R.I.) continues thwarting a Senate vote to confirm John Bolton as the permanent U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the White House plans to make a second recess appointment of the embattled diplomat. According to an administration source who requested anonymity, if the Senate does not vote on Bolton before his current recess appointment expires December 18, the President will again name Bolton to the post during Congress’ post-election recess. In order for Bolton to be paid, however, he would also have to be appointed to a different position while his formal title...

NEW YORK - The National Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Abraham Foxman, yesterday accused United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan of demonstrating "blatant one-sidedness" in his comments about Israel's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. "I am stunned that the UN secretary general cannot find his tongue except to criticize and denounce Israel, and is unable to raise his voice to denounce Hezbollah's daily firing of hundreds of rockets that are specifically intended to hurt civilians," Foxman said yesterday in an exclusive interview with Haaretz. "In addition, [Annan] has not bothered to mention the loss of life in Israel as...

Today’s “International Community, that group of utterly feckless, corrupt, boobs produce lots of words, resolutions and demands but of course no substantial action. The head hypocrite and the worst Secretary General in U.N history Mr. Koffi Annan has overseen the continued devolution of an already failed , corrupt and inept institution. Mr. Annan’s has overseen the devolution of this never-good institution into an institution of moral and criminal depravity. Here are some of the things Mr. Anna’s U.N has accomplished: * Engaged in the rape and pimping of adolescent refugees in around the globe. * Overseen the largest bribery scandal...

The United Nations is working toward a new diplomatic arrangement between Israel and Lebanon that will be based on implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah, the restoration of Lebanese sovereignty, and the deployment of the Lebanese army to southern Lebanon. The arrangement will be based on principles concluded at the G8 summit in St. Petersburg earlier this week, which include the unconditional return of the abducted Israeli soldiers, cessation of rocket attacks against Israel, an end to the Israeli assault on Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, and the release of Hamas officials arrested by...

Urging the international community to "end the fighting and the killing," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan backed a Lebanon stabilization force Tuesday stressing it must be bigger and better armed than the UN's current force of about 2,000. Speaking to reporters after discussing the Middle East at the European Commission, Annan said the UN Security Council would have to work out the proposed force's size and rules of engagement. He said such a force should be "larger than the 2,000-man force we have there (and) have a different concept of operation and, hopefully, a different mandate from the Security Council that...

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called Wednesday for the immediate release of kidnapped Israeli soldiers and condemned Israel’s immediate retaliation. “I condemn without reservations the attack in southern Lebanon, and demand that Israeli troops be released immediately,” Annan said after a meeting in Rome with Premier Romano Prodi. Annan spoke hours after Hizbullah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, tanks and gunboats against southern Lebanon as Israeli troops crossed the frontier to hunt for the captives. 'Occupation is what provokes Palestinian, Lebanese people' ”We would not want to see an expansion, an...

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the UN Security Council on Friday to take a stand on Israel's violent standoff with Hamas, as diplomats continued to grapple with a draft resolution proposed by Qatar. The council has been stymied because several council members rejected a draft that would have condemned Israel's offensive. They said it was unfairly critical of the Israelis and did not mention Palestinian abuses. As a result, the Security Council, which is the United Nations' most powerful body, has been silent on one of the worst crises to hit the Middle East in years. In two days of...

UNITED NATIONS -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged U.N. member states Tuesday to approve an overhaul of the world body's operations that would include a 2,500-member rapid reaction team to help millions facing hunger, violence and terrorism. After decades of piecemeal reform, Annan told the 191 members a radical overhaul is needed because current United Nations rules and regulations "make it very hard for the organization to conduct its work efficiently or effectively." Since the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, he said, the United Nations has changed from an organization of conferences and meetings to a global body...

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Wednesday that Israel has the right to defend its citizens, but criticized the policy of targeted killings, saying that they are like, "executions without trial." Annan also expressed concern over the firing of Kassam rockets from Gaza into Israel and called on both Israelis and Palestinians to respect international law and to take steps to quell the violence.

UNITED NATIONS -- A United Nations employee whose sexual harassment claims led former refugee chief Ruud Lubbers to resign now alleges that she was the target of retaliation, and plans to sue him and Secretary-General Kofi Annan, she said Wednesday. Cynthia Brzak, 52, said she hopes her case against Annan and Lubbers, the former prime minister of the Netherlands, will set a precedent example for whistleblowers in the U.N. who believe its internal justice system doesn't protect them against punishment. "My goal is that I don't think anyone in the world is above the law," Brzak said in an interview...

UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and other global issues over breakfast Tuesday. The private meeting at Annan's residence, which was not announced in advance, took place as the international community awaits the outcome of the referendum on Iraq's constitution and a report on the U.N. investigation into the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

LONDON, United Kingdom -- John Bolton, America's ambassador to the United Nations, predicted Friday that efforts to greatly expand the Security Council will fail. Bolton's remarks were a rare case of a U.S. official publicly speculating on the outcome of a bitter Security Council reform debate. In the past, he and other officials have repeated strong American opposition to rival proposals for adding at least 10 seats to the 15-nation body. Bolton, who has made overhauling the United Nations a priority since President Bush appointed him to the job, said the world body must become more efficient, effective and accountable....

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Hijackers Friday released a U.N.-chartered ship carrying food aid and a crew of 10 following successful negotiations with a Somali businessman, officials said. Gunmen released the MV Miltzow after a Somali contractor, hired by the U.N. World Food Program to handle the food aid, negotiated with them, said Karim Kudrati, managing director of Motaku Shipping Agency, the Kenyan company that owns the ship. Kudrati said he was not aware any ransom was paid.

UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations is looking at everything in its search for cheap temporary space — islands, cruise ships, and even large tents. And Brooklyn is definitely still in the running. U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Louis Frederick Reuter IV, who took charge of the U.N.'s renovation and relocation four weeks ago, said the world body is scrambling to find temporary headquarters following the New York State legislature's refusal to give the go-ahead for a new building. The sprawling U.N. headquarters complex, overlooking the East River, was considered modern when it was constructed 50 years ago but now violates most...

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed concern on Saturday night over the recent military escalations in the Gaza Strip. In a statement released by Anan's office, he called upon the Palestinian factions to fulfill PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's calls to cease armed activities, as a first step in removing the factions' weapons.

UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations will get back thousands of pages of sensitive documents that an investigator took when he quit the U.N. oil-for-food inquiry — but only after Congress completes its own examination of the humanitarian program, officials said. Robert Parton resigned from the U.N.-backed Independent Inquiry Committee in April, reportedly because he believed it ignored evidence critical of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The chief of the investigation, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, denies there was a cover-up. Three congressional committees investigating the Iraq oil-for-food program later filed subpoenas for Parton and the documents, although he turned...

UNITED NATIONS - Negotiators met into the early hours Tuesday to try to reach agreement on a watered-down plan for reforming the United Nations, having abandoned many of the sweeping changes Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended. With some heads of state already in New York for Wednesday's opening of a three-day U.N. summit, the diplomats were running out of time for producing a substantive document for world leaders to adopt. Mark Malloch Brown, the secretary-general's chief of staff, said negotiations seemed more favorable than a few days ago because "deadlines are starting to loosen minds and positions." "There's a threshold where...

You can choose your friends but not your family. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan escaped charges of corruption in a report on the Iraqi oil-for-food program released on Wednesday, but evidence was presented that his son Kojo brandished his father's name to avoid paying taxes on a luxury car and lied repeatedly while under investigation. Kofi Annan said the report was "deeply embarrassing." One of the most embarrassing points for the soft-spoken Nobel Peace Prize winner from Ghana must be the role of his own son. Kojo Annan, now 31, was a consultant for the Swiss firm Cotecna S.A. that won...