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Cue up the Fat Lady: Annan's #2 Blocks Oil-for-Food Scrutiny
UNITED NATIONS — With U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan next up for review by Paul Volcker's inquiry into the Oil-for-Food scandal, a crucial question is whether Volcker will expand upon information tying the scandal directly to the U.N. chief's office — by way of Annan's second-in command, Louise Frechette. Four years into the seven-year Oil-for-Food program, with graft and mismanagement by then rampant, Frechette intervened directly by telephone to stop United Nations auditors from forwarding their investigations to the U.N. Security Council. This detail was buried on page 186 of the 219-page interim report Volcker's Independent Inquiry Committee released Feb. 3. This decision from within Annan's office left only the Secretariat privy to the specifics of the waste, bungling and contractual breaches detailed by U.N. internal auditors in dozens of damning reports. The extent of what Annan's office knew was not available either to the Security Council or the public until Congress finally forced the issue and the United Nations produced the reports in conjunction with a Volcker "briefing paper" in January. Posted by: .com 2005-03-01 |
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