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| Cue up the Fat Lady: Annan's #2 Blocks Oil-for-Food Scrutiny |
| 2005-03-01 |
| 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 |
| #5 Can our legal experts help us out? Does it not mean when income triples that some kind of fraud could be taking place, and therefore warrent an investigation by the FBI? We are now privvy to information that fraud could have taken place on US soil and to ignore such fraud is abdicating responsibilities mandated to US Attornies? |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-03-01 11:53:27 PM |
| #4 Among other things, that audit found that Sevan had failed to hold any management meetings of his Oil-for-Food team for the previous two years. It remains to be explained how that fact had escaped the attention of Sevan’s direct supervisor, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette, or that of Kofi Annan himself. I'm sure a suitable excuse will be found and put forth. And it'll likely be one that puts the lion's share (if not all) of the blame on someone else besides Goo-fi. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-03-01 11:07:08 PM |
| #3 Once again our "friends" to the north have been helpful. One wonders how many Iraqi people might be alive today if not for Ms. Frechette's phone call. With helpful persons like this one needs no enemies. The "important US citizens" that met with Kofi in New York early this year to council bear a close inspection as well. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2005-03-01 10:05:55 PM |
| #2 I don't see any comments from Mike Sylwester. This seems on the surface to be very damning. I lost any confidence in the UN when the "Peacekeepers" were withdrawn from the Sinai back in 1973 and I believe it has gone downhill from there. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-03-01 9:57:12 PM |
| #1 Hmmm.... Canadian. With a French name. And Chretien and Chiraq are related by marriage. As are many, many of the French Canadians, often many times over. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-03-01 9:53:15 PM |