UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan accused critics of the U.N. oil-for-food program Thursday of treating allegations of corruption as fact and ignoring the program's role of providing aid to nearly every Iraqi family. The U.N. chief declared that he was "very keen" for the three-member panel led by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker to report "as soon as possible." And he promised that any U.N. official found guilty of accepting bribes or kickbacks would be dealt with "very severely."
Annan said he met Wednesday with Benon Sevan, who headed the oil-for-food program and has been accused of receiving kickbacks from Saddam's government, to discuss the allegations and cooperation with the investigation. Officials said Sevan is retiring on May 31 but would remain available for the investigation.
| As long as you can find him in Kolyma. |
"Benon has stated quite clearly that he is innocent," Annan said. "He has indicated he will cooperate as I expect all other staff members to cooperate."
| He'll cooperate at least as well as the other staff members! |
Volcker received support Thursday from European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. "Be sure that all the European countries are going to participate and to cooperate on the investigation and clarify everything," Solana told reporters after meeting Annan.
| They'll also cooperate at least as well as the UN staff. |
Annan told reporters Thursday it is "unfortunate" that some allegations are "being handled as if they were facts," and that in the process the oil-for-food program's importance to Iraqis had been lost. "The fact that (there) may have been wrongdoing by a few should not destroy the work that many hardworking U.N. staff did," he said.
| "We had good intentions!" |
"If the Iraqi government has smuggled oil and done all sorts of things, I don't think it is fair to lump it all together and blame the U.N. and the Secretariat because there are things that were definitely beyond our control - not only the Secretariat but even the member states," Annan said.
| "And the rest, phiff, as the French would say, it was a truffle." |
Annan said it is important to separate the oil-for-food investigation from the effort led by his special adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi, to help Iraqis decide on a transitional government that will take power from the U.S.-led coalition on June 30.
| One could see how it wouldn't exactly fill the Iraqi people with a lot of confidence in the UN. |
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