U.N. officials deny allegations of oil-for-food corruption
From Richard Roth
CNN
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Senior U.N. leaders are defending the world body against allegations of corruption in the Iraqi oil-for-food program and are discussing whether an independent investigation is merited.
The U.N.'s own investigative arm -- the Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) -- has already launched a probe to determine if any U.N. employees profited from the program by skimming proceeds or accepting kickbacks from oil traders and companies that provided humanitarian goods, charges U.N. officials have denied.
The OIOS is currently questioning some former oil-for-food employees, and U.N. officials have asked that anyone with any proof of wrongdoing come forward.
But the OIOS has no authority to investigate or question U.N.-member states or Iraqi officials, raising the possibility that an outside investigation may be needed.
Earlier this week, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Security Council members were being consulted "to see if broader investigations can take place."
The Oil for Food Programme, which began operations in December 1996, was established by the United Nations to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people, who were suffering after years of sanctions imposed by the Security Council in 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait.
Under the program, Iraq would be able to sell limited quantities of its oil and use the funds only to buy humanitarian supplies for its citizens.
The U.N. has insisted that it merely managed the program on behalf of member states and that those countries were well aware of the problems with skimming.
At one point, the United Nations did reset the pricing mechanism on oil sales to block overcharging.
This week, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said it was not the U.N.'s role to oversee and investigate the program in regards to the kickback and skimming allegations.
He said that job would fall to the Security Council committee on Iraqi sanctions, nicknamed the "661 committee" for the number of the resolution that imposed the sanctions against Iraq.
Accusations of corruption have plagued the oil-for-food program since its inception.
Questions swirled around the role of Kojo Annan, the secretary-general's son, in the Swiss company Cotecna, which was hired to inspect food and supplies going to Iraq under the program.
The United Nations has consistently denied there was any conflict of interest with the younger Annan's job, saying that the company offered the lowest and best bid for its services.
Thursday, a senior U.N. official discounted the insinuations, saying that Kojo Annan resigned from Cotecna before the company won the bid to aid the oil-for-food program.
Benan Sevan, executive director of the program for the U.N., has also denied allegations that he profited from the project.
But members of the Iraqi Governing Council said Sevan's name is listed in Iraqi documents as having benefited from oil sales.
Sevan is currently in the middle of a two-month vacation and will retire next month.
The veteran U.N. staffer was working in the U.N. compound in Baghdad Aug. 29, 2003 and left just seconds before a truck bomb exploded near U.N. offices, killing 15 staff members. Among the dead was Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N.'s special representative to Iraq.
Meanwhile, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette is meeting privately with members of the Security Council about the program, which expired in May last year when U.N. sanctions against Iraq were lifted.
A U.S. diplomat said there is a lot of concern now about the oil-for-food issue.
"We hope no one from the U.N. is involved," the diplomat said.
Thursday, a General Accounting Office official testified in a House hearing that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein reaped $10.1 billion in illegal revenues from the humanitarian program.
The official said $5.7 billion was from oil smuggled out of Iraq and $4.4 billion was the result of illicit surcharges on oil sales and after-sale charges on suppliers. (Full story)
Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Illinois, has scheduled hearings on the matter next month.
