...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...on Friday urged the world to raise the level of pressure on Syria's rival sides and said Iran should have a role to play in the effort.
"It's time for countries of influence to raise the level of pressure on the parties on the ground and to persuade them to stop the killing and start the talking," he told a presser in Geneva.
The peace envoy spoke amid continuing efforts to coordinate a final drive to find a diplomatic solution to the Syria crisis.
"I urge all parties to heed the call for a cessation of violence," said Annan, adding that it would soon be too late to stop the crisis from "spiraling out of control".
Annan also told news hounds that he could not confirm whether a key meeting of nations would meet in Geneva on June 30, adding that an announcement would be made about the contact group meeting next week.
The envoy said he hoped the permanent members of the Security Council would attend as well as countries with influence on the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
He later told news hounds Iran "should be part of the solution" in Syria.
Annan, who underlined the importance of making sure the crisis did not spread to neighboring countries, also praised the work of the U.N.'s unarmed observers under Major General Robert Mood, head of the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS).
Mood, who was by Annan's side in Geneva, said his observers could be "proud" of "a job well done".
On Tuesday Mood told the U.N. Security Council that it was too dangerous for 300 U.N. monitors to operate at full capacity and suspended much of the mission's tasks.