Kofi Annan: ‘Hell no,’ he won't quit

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INTERACTIVE

World power
A look at the United Nations

Management criticized
Although Tuesday’s report found no wrongdoing by Kofi Annan, it clearly faulted the secretary-general’s management of the world body and his oversight of the oil-for-food program.

The $64 billion oil-for-food program was the largest U.N. humanitarian aid operation, running in 1996-2003. Saddam Hussein’s government was allowed to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian goods as an exemption from U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

In a bid to curry favor and end sanctions, Saddam allegedly gave former government officials, activists, journalists and U.N. officials vouchers for Iraqi oil that could then be resold at a profit. U.S. congressional investigators say Saddam’s regime may have illegally made mope than $21 billion by cheating the program and other sanctions-busting schemes.

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The report is the second issued by Volcker’s team. It coincides with allegations of sex abuse by U.N. peacekeepers and of sexual harassment and mismanagement by senior U.N. staff and comes a week after Kofi Annan called for the biggest overhaul of the United Nations in its 60-year history.

“I think we all share the hope and confidence that the results of our investigation ... may contribute to the larger objective of a reformed U.N., a U.N. capable of commanding and maintaining the support of its member states and the public at large,” Volcker said.

Calls for resignation
Some critics, including several U.S. lawmakers, have been calling for Kofi Annan to resign. Even before the report was issued, Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., reiterated his call for Kofi Annan to “put the interests of the U.N. ahead of his personal interest” and step down.

Volcker’s Independent Inquiry Committee found that Kojo Annan was not forthcoming with either his father or the committee and accused him of consistently trying to hide the nature of his relationship with Cotecna. It said an investigation was continuing into Kojo Annan’s dealings with the program.

In a letter annexed to the report, Kojo Annan’s lawyer, William R. Taylor, rejected any claim that Kojo Annan had not been wholly cooperative with the committee. But Taylor admitted he had not told his father the entire truth.

“He regrets the embarrassment that omission caused to his father and to the United Nations and accepts responsibility for it,” Taylor wrote.

Company 'disguised relationship'
The Volcker report said that while Cotecna “generally has cooperated” with the investigation, the committee “concludes that Cotecna has made false statements to the public, the United Nations, and the committee.”

After a British newspaper, The Sunday Telegraph, reported the link between Kojo Annan and Cotecna in January 1999, the report said, “Cotecna disguised its continuing relationship with Kojo Annan by routing the payments that were made to him” through three different companies, in response to instructions from the secretary-general’s son.

The secretary-general initiated an inquiry through his staff, which concluded within a day that Kojo Annan’s connection to Cotecna was not known to the officials handling contract bids.

Volcker’s investigation, however, concluded, that Kofi Annan’s inquiry “was inadequate” and that the issue should have been referred to the U.N. legal office or internal watchdog.

In an attached letter, Kofi Annan’s lawyer defended the secretary-general’s action, saying he acted on the advice of three advisers.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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