U.N. members applaud criticized leader
 |  U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan addresses the General Assembly Wednesday. |
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 U.N. leader Kofi Annan gets a standing ovation from the General Assembly.
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UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who faces criticism over corruption in the agency's defunct oil-for-food program, enjoyed a standing ovation Wednesday from General Assembly members.
The expression of support was planned. Earlier in the morning, diplomats said they wouldn't be surprised if members of the U.N. General Assembly delivered such a rare gesture.
The U.N.'s oil-for-food program allowed Iraq to use money from oil sales to buy food and medicine for Iraqi citizens while the country was under post-Persian Gulf War sanctions.
The United Nations and several congressional bodies are investigating whether officials received bribes or if vendors shared profits from the oil-for- food program with Saddam Hussein's regime.
Republican Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota called for Annan's resignation last week, and more Republicans are calling for a change at the top.
"Kofi Annan must go. There's just no question about it. ... The confidence that the United States has had in the United Nations is waning right now, and the only way that's going to change is if there's a change in leadership," Rep. Dan Burton said Monday.
Congressman Scott Garrett of New Jersey said at the same news conference, "To me the question should not be whether Kofi Annan should be in charge. To me the larger question is whether he should be in jail at this point in time."
The world agency's show of support came a day after Annan shrugged off calls for his resignation, saying he has much work left to do.
None of United Nations' 191 member states has demanded Annan step aside.
Annan's second five-year term as the head of the United Nations runs through 2006.
The ovation came after Annan endorsed a report titled "A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility," during which he called on the assembly to implement its recommendations.
Annan said, "No country can afford to deal with today's threats alone, and no threat can be dealt with effectively unless other threats are addressed at the same time."
Annan did not refer specifically to President's Bush's decision to invade Iraq without prior U.N. support. But he said, "If we do not act resolutely, and together, the threats described in the report can overwhelm us."
He listed HIV/AIDS, nuclear proliferation, instances of genocide and terrorism among the biggest threats facing the world community, and urged the member states "to make 2005 the year of change at the United Nations."
