UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Faces Calls for Resignation Over Oil-for-Food Program Scandal

Strategic Insights -

United States Senator Norm Coleman, chairman of the Senate's bipartisan subcommittee on investigations, has called for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's resignation over the oil-for-food program scandal. Coleman, a Republican, argues that the most extensive fraud in UN history occurred under Annan's watch, with Saddam Hussein allegedly reaping $US20 billion from the program. The US investigators have gathered overwhelming evidence that Saddam manipulated the program to line his own pockets, rather than using it to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people.

Key Takeaways:

  • Senator Norm Coleman, chairman of the Senate's bipartisan subcommittee on investigations, has called for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's resignation.
  • Coleman argues that the most extensive fraud in UN history occurred under Annan's watch, with Saddam Hussein allegedly reaping $US20 billion from the program.
  • The UN's oil-for-food program was supposed to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people, but was instead manipulated by Saddam to line his own pockets.
  • Kofi Annan's son, Kojo, received $US30,000 a year in secret payments from Swiss company Cotecna, which was hired by the UN to monitor Iraq's imports under the oil-for-food program.
  • Annan has stated that he was disappointed with his son's actions, but denies any personal impropriety.
  • Senator Carl Levin, a senior Democrat on the Senate committee investigating abuses of the program, agrees that the program was corrupt, but sees "no evidence of impropriety" on Annan's part.
  • Critics of the investigation into the oil-for-food program argue that the US is using it to deflect attention from violence in Iraq and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction.

Statistics:

  • $US20 billion: The amount of money Saddam Hussein allegedly reaped from the oil-for-food program.
  • $US30,000: The amount of money Kofi Annan's son, Kojo, received per year in secret payments from Cotecna.
  • 5 years: The duration of Kojo Annan's secret payments from Cotecna.
  • December 2006: The end of Kofi Annan's second and final five-year term as UN Secretary-General.

Sources:

  • "US Senator Calls for UN Head's Resignation" by The Wall Street Journal, published overnight, Australian time (author not specified)
  • "Annan Refuses to Resign Amid Oil-For-Food Scandal" by The New York Times, author not specified
  • Statement from Senator Norm Coleman, chairman of the Senate's bipartisan subcommittee on investigations (source not specified)
  • Statement from Senator Carl Levin, senior Democrat on the Senate committee investigating abuses of the program (source not specified)