Kofi Annan Defiant, Relieved
Charles Johnson
Tue Mar 29, 2005 at 3:07 pm PST • Views: 278
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan doesn’t just say, “No.” He says, “Hell, no!”
NEW YORK - Investigators probing the U.N. oil-for-food program said Tuesday that Secretary-General Kofi Annan didn’t interfere in the awarding of a contract to a company that employed his son but criticized the U.N. chief for not properly investigating possible conflicts of interest.
A defiant Annan said “Hell no” when asked at a news conference if he would resign, noting the report’s findings that he committed no wrongdoing.
“After so many distressing and untrue allegations have been made against me, this exoneration by the independent inquiry obviously comes as a great relief,” he said.
Although the report did not completely vindicate the secretary-general, the investigation led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said there was insufficient evidence to show that he was aware of the bid.
Still, the report raised questions about when the secretary-general learned about the December 1998 contract to the Swiss firm, Cotecna Inspection S.A., and strongly criticized the destruction of documents by his former chief of staff that could have shed light on the oil-for-food scandal in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.
Frank says: