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Will Kofi Annan Retire Over Oil-for-Food and His Son's Behavior? Stewart StogelLess than a week before U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan convenes a world summit in New York City, the embattled U.N. chief will face new problems as a another report on the Iraq Oil-for-Food Scandal is about to be released. U.N. chief investigator Paul Volcker has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday, when it is expected he will issue his "definitive" report on the role Annan's son Kojo may have played in the $60 billion embezzlement of the Iraqi aid fund. Story Continues Below Annan's son's role centers on his relationship with the Swiss firm Cotecna Inspection Services. The younger Annan is believed to have traded on his father's name and connections to gain employment with the firm and then steer lucrative Iraqi aid contracts its way.
The situation gets more complicated when it became known that Cotecna, which was supposed to verify the imports of humanitarian goods into Iraq, was in fact verifying substandard or outdated goods as first quality. The difference in money between what was actually paid for, and what was charged to the UN, has been the subject of several intensive investigations by U.N., U.S. and NYC governmental bodies. Kojo Annan, while insisting he has done nothing wrong and steered clear of U.N.-Iraq-Cotecna business, has nonetheless been "less than fully cooperative" according to Volcker investigators. It is believed that Volcker has concluded that Annan the son, did in fact trade on his father's name and connections and "unofficially" played a far greater role in Cotecna's Iraq business than he has publicly admitted. While Volcker will not formally recommend legal action against Kojo Annan, it is believed UK authorities may use the report to see if legal action is warranted. Kojo lives in London and does not enjoy U.N. diplomatic immunities. The case against the Annan son is so serious, that his father cut short a late summer vacation and returned to NYC for a brief private meeting with Volcker last week. Kofi then returned to Europe and will not arrive back in NYC until after the Volcker news conference Wednesday. Volcker officials say that the Secretary-General has not been directly implicated in any illicit affairs to date. Meanwhile, another central figure in the Oil for Food scandal has gone "missing in action." Benon V. Sevan, the former director of the program, has now remained on an "extended" vacation at his home in Nicosia, Cyprus. The embattled U.N. veteran, who Volcker has accused of bribe taking, will not return to NYC, despite assurances by his attorney to the contrary. Annan had officially fired the 40 year U.N. official and removed all his diplomatic immunities. Sevan is also the subject of investigations by the US Internal Revenue Service, the Congress and Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau. While supposedly at his Nicosia home, Sevan has not been seen by neighbors for several weeks. Another federal probe into U.N. financial affairs, resulted in the chairman of the General Assembly's budget committee being arrested by the FBI on charges of money laundering last week. While the sum, approximately $60,000 is small, it is believed to be the top of a much larger iceberg. "Is he (Kofi Annan) going to retire?" asked one U.N. staffer. "How much longer can this continue?" he added. That is a question only the Secretary-General can answer, and he is not talking.
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