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U.N. Decides Not To Pay Legal Bills Of Ex-Oil Official
By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 29, 2005; Page A11
UNITED NATIONS, March 28 -- The United Nations reversed a commitment to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees for a senior U.N. official who was accused of ethical lapses while administering the $64 billion oil-for-food program in Iraq.
The U.N. decision Monday came after U.S., British and Iraqi officials expressed concern about U.N. plans to use surplus Iraq oil revenue to defend Benon Sevan against accusations that he improperly steered lucrative Iraqi oil contracts to an Egyptian businessman.
The U.N. leadership braced for a critical report Tuesday by a U.N.-appointed investigator into Secretary General Kofi Annan's handling of the program. The report will examine whether Annan's son, Kojo Annan, used his family connections to obtain contracts for a Swiss company that once employed him.
Senior U.N. officials said the report by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul A. Volcker will clear Kofi Annan of any personal wrongdoing but fault him for lax oversight of the U.N.'s largest humanitarian aid program.
They also expect Volcker to criticize Kofi Annan for failing to more forcefully address the potential conflict of interest posed by the U.N.'s hiring of Geneva-based Cotecna Inspection Services SA, which paid more than $160,000 in consulting fees to Kojo Annan while it worked for the United Nations.
"The secretary general expects to be cleared of any wrongdoing" in the report, said Fred Eckhard, Annan's chief spokesman....
The U.N. decision Monday came after U.S., British and Iraqi officials expressed concern about U.N. plans to use surplus Iraq oil revenue to defend Benon Sevan against accusations that he improperly steered lucrative Iraqi oil contracts to an Egyptian businessman.
Said1 said:Maybe I'm out of the loop here, but what surplus revenue are they talking about?
Kathianne said:The plan was to pay Sevan's legal costs out of the oil for food profits. Kind of the victims pay the theif mentality. It was 'cute' and they got caught.
Said1 said:Kinda thinking that, then thought all the money probably went to new pools and tennis courts for their estates, leaving none for legal fees!
I wonder how this money was labeled "surplus". Does Iraq just have too much money for their own good?Said1 said:Kinda thinking that, then thought all the money probably went to new pools and tennis courts for their estates, leaving none for legal fees!
