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Former oil-for-food head resigns from UN
(Note: But of COURSE a committee -- using blatant Language Deception and called the "Independent" Inquiry Committee and appointed by none other than Kofi Annan -- would protect Annan from criminal investigation and prosecution at all costs! It's HIS committee! This is nothing more than hiring the fox to guard the henhouse. At this global level of corruption, the Mafia pales in comparison. Another Language Deception that's related: United Nations soldiers -- and that INCLUDES American troops, who are all dutifully wearing UN berets these days and no longer covered by the Geneva Convention -- are called PEACEkeepers.)
August 8, 2006
By Shawn McCarthy Globe and Mail 444 Front St. West Toronto, ON M5V 2S9 Canada 800-387-5400 http://www.theglobeandmail.com To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@globeandmail.ca
New York, New York - The former head of the United Nation's oil-for-food program in Iraq resigned from the world body yesterday, saying he is being scapegoated by investigators to protect Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the UN itself. The Independent Inquiry Committee, which was appointed by Mr. Annan, is scheduled today to release its third report on alleged corruption in the $67-billion (U.S.) program, which ran from 1996 until the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. According to Mr. Sevan's lawyer, Eric Lewis, who has been given advanced notice of the findings, the committee will accuse Benon Sevan, the executive director of the defunct program, with receiving kickbacks for steering Iraqi oil contracts to an Egyptian company and criticize him for failing to cooperate with its investigation. Mr. Sevan is also being investigated by the Manhattan District Attorney's office, and several congressional committees are looking into the oil-for-food program amid a climate of UN bashing from senior Republican representatives. In an open letter to Mr. Annan, Mr. Sevan complained bitterly of his treatment by the Secretary-General -- who is himself under a cloud of suspicion -- and by the inquiry. "I fully understand the pressure that you are under, and that there are those who are trying to destroy your reputation as well as my own," Mr. Sevan wrote to his old friend, with whom he had worked for nearly 40 years. "But sacrificing me for political expediency will never appease our critics or help you or the organization." Although he had retired, he remained on UN staff in a $1-a-year symbolic post to maintain his diplomatic immunity and secure his co-operation with the inquiry. According to Mr. Lewis, the inquiry committee headed by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker found that Mr. Sevan steered contracts to sell Iraqi oil to African Middle East Petroleum (AMEP), a company run by the brother-in-law of a friend of his. The committee also concludes that AMEP paid Mr. Sevan $160,000 (U.S.) in return for recommending the company to senior Iraqi officials. In a statement released through his lawyer, Mr. Sevan acknowledged that he mentioned AMEP to Iraqi officials, but said he did so at a time that Iraq was having trouble finding contractors, and that he made no recommendation. He said the $160,000, which he declared on his UN financial statements well before an investigation began, was left to him by an aunt in Cyprus. Committee investigators concluded the aunt was too poor to have accounted for the windfall. Mr. Sevan said the case against him is built on speculation and questionable sources. He said the Volcker committee needed a scapegoat and he is it. He contrasted the committee's aggressive prosecution of him to its kid's-glove treatment of Mr. Annan. In a report on the Secretary-General this spring, the committee found that there was not enough evidence to conclude wrongdoing, despite some incriminating circumstantial evidence. Two senior researchers later quit, complaining of its mild treatment of Mr. Annan. In his statements, Mr. Sevan also praised the work of the oil-for-food program. He noted that the program managed to double the caloric intake of Iraqis and cut by half the amount of malnutrition among children. Under the U.S.-led occupation, he noted, malnutrition among children has doubled, while millions of dollars meant for reconstruction have gone missing, contracts were awarded without bids, and contractors have over-charged for work.
Copyright 2005, Globe and Mail.
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