http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/23/in...rint&position=
April 23, 2004
U.N. Chief Rebuts Critics of the Iraq 'Oil for Food' Program
By WARREN HOGE
NITED NATIONS, April 22 - Secretary General Kofi Annan struck back Thursday at critics of the United Nations and his leadership, saying they were treating unproven charges as facts and ignoring the good that the "oil for food" program brought Iraqis despite its scandal-ridden management.
The allegations of corruption have battered the United Nations just as it is being given the lead role in shaping an interim government in Iraq. Mr. Annan has responded by appointing a panel of three to investigate the charges, headed by Paul A. Volcker, a former chairman of the United States Federal Reserve.
Several Congressional committees, saying they distrust the United Nations' willingness to examine itself, are looking into the case. United Nations detractors have seized on the reports to call into question the organization's work in the Iraqi transition and Mr. Annan's fitness to remain in office.
"I think it is unfortunate that there have been so many allegations, and some of it is being handled as if they were facts, and that is why we need to have this investigation done," Mr. Annan said Thursday.
"And in all this, '' he added, "what has been lost is the fact that the oil-for-food program did provide relief to the Iraqi population. Every household was touched."
The Security Council began the program in 1996 to enable Iraq to sell oil and devote the proceeds to humanitarian purchases as a way of easing the effects of the sanctions imposed after the Persian Gulf war of 1991. According to the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of the United States Congress, Saddam Hussein's government skimmed $10.1 billion from the $67 billion program.
Mr. Annan said that he had met Wednesday with Benon V. Sevan, the former head of the program, and that Mr. Sevan had promised to cooperate with the investigation. Mr. Sevan's name was reportedly discovered on an Iraqi Trade Ministry document saying he had received an illegal oil allotment himself worth up to $3.5 million. Mr. Annan said Mr. Sevan had repeated his past denials of the charge.
The Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on Wednesday endorsing the inquiry.
Joining Mr. Volcker, 76, on the panel are Richard J. Goldstone, 65, a South African judge who served as prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, and Mark Pieth, 50, a Swiss law professor with expertise in tracking money laundering.
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