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No evidence against Annan on Iraq food contract
Irish Times; Aug 11, 2005
Evelyn Leopold at the United Nations
THE UN: A key investigator of the UN oil- for-food programme in Iraq
has said there was "absolutely" no evidence UN secretary general Kofi
Annan had interfered in the awarding of a contract to a firm that
employed his son.
However, South African judge Richard Goldstone, said on Tuesday the
inquiry was still investigating "vigorously" whether Mr Annan had
advance knowledge of the bid by Swiss firm Cotecna Inspection SA,
which was awarded a lucrative contract in the humanitarian programme
for Iraq.
"We found absolutely no evidence implicating the secretary general, Mr
Annan, in the award of the Cotecna contract," Mr Goldstone told the
BBC.
"That was handled by the appropriate organs within the United Nations
and there is absolutely not a tittle of evidence suggesting he tried
to influence that decision."
Mr Goldstone is one of three commissioners leading the UN- established
independent inquiry committee, along with Paul Volcker, former head of
the US Federal Reserve, and Mark Pieth, a Swiss money-laundering
expert.
Mr Annan's role will be analysed further in a report due in September,
shortly before he hosts a summit on UN reforms with more than 170
world leaders.
Meanwhile, a senior Cypriot government official has said that it is
unlikely to extradite the former head of the UN oil-for-food programme
to face allegations of receiving bribes.
Benon Sevan, a Cypriot of Armenian descent, was accused by UN
investigators of receiving almost $150,000 in kickbacks for oil
allocations under the programme he headed from 1997 to 2003.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
Asked how authorities would respond to any extradition request, an
official said: "There is a constitutional prohibition on extraditing
one of our nationals to another jurisdiction." If a formal extradition
request was filed, a court could cite the constitution to block it.
Irish Times; Aug 11, 2005
Evelyn Leopold at the United Nations
THE UN: A key investigator of the UN oil- for-food programme in Iraq
has said there was "absolutely" no evidence UN secretary general Kofi
Annan had interfered in the awarding of a contract to a firm that
employed his son.
However, South African judge Richard Goldstone, said on Tuesday the
inquiry was still investigating "vigorously" whether Mr Annan had
advance knowledge of the bid by Swiss firm Cotecna Inspection SA,
which was awarded a lucrative contract in the humanitarian programme
for Iraq.
"We found absolutely no evidence implicating the secretary general, Mr
Annan, in the award of the Cotecna contract," Mr Goldstone told the
BBC.
"That was handled by the appropriate organs within the United Nations
and there is absolutely not a tittle of evidence suggesting he tried
to influence that decision."
Mr Goldstone is one of three commissioners leading the UN- established
independent inquiry committee, along with Paul Volcker, former head of
the US Federal Reserve, and Mark Pieth, a Swiss money-laundering
expert.
Mr Annan's role will be analysed further in a report due in September,
shortly before he hosts a summit on UN reforms with more than 170
world leaders.
Meanwhile, a senior Cypriot government official has said that it is
unlikely to extradite the former head of the UN oil-for-food programme
to face allegations of receiving bribes.
Benon Sevan, a Cypriot of Armenian descent, was accused by UN
investigators of receiving almost $150,000 in kickbacks for oil
allocations under the programme he headed from 1997 to 2003.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
Asked how authorities would respond to any extradition request, an
official said: "There is a constitutional prohibition on extraditing
one of our nationals to another jurisdiction." If a formal extradition
request was filed, a court could cite the constitution to block it.