 | Although this popcorn is somewhat stale, and smells faintly of rotting fish... |
Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday said the United Nations will use $30 million in revenue from the U.N. oil-for-food program for Iraq to pay the initial bill for the independent investigation of corruption allegations in the program. In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Annan said money for the probe _ headed by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker _ would come from an account earmarked to pay U.N. administrative and operational costs for the humanitarian program. Volcker said in August he doesn't know how long it would take to complete the investigation, but estimated it would cost at least $30 million in the next year. The United Nations paid several million dollars in the investigation's initial costs from its regular budget, to which all 191 U.N. member states contribute. But U.N. associate spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the regular budget, now about $1.4 billion annually, couldn't absorb the inquiry's cost. Since voluntary contributions were unlikely to pay for the Volcker panel, Annan decided to tap the oil-for-food account for administrative and operational costs. Dujarric said the account contains $300 million. |
