Posted on 12/02/2004 3:21:47 AM PST by kattracks
(CNSNews.com) - The United Nations headquarters went on the defensive Wednesday, highlighting staff members' support for beleaguered Secretary-General Kofi Annan amid calls for his resignation following a series of controversies plaguing him and the world body.
"A few voices doesn't constitute a chorus," Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard, told a press briefing in response to a question about a "chorus" of voices calling for his chief's resignation.
Eckhard added pointedly that Annan had heard no such calls from any U.N. member state.
The U.N. made public the fact that more than 2,700 U.N. Secretariat staff members had shown their support for Annan by signing an email circulating internally.
"More than ever, we support the secretary-general in his balanced, fair and substantive approach," the letter said. "We also express our determination to continue to improve the workings and effectiveness of this organization."
The drafters of the email said accusations against the U.N. had been "made without full knowledge of the facts."
Eckhard said the letter was not official, describing it as a spontaneous initiative by some staff members who sent emailed messages asking others to support it. Replies were still being received, he added.
The spokesman said the recent criticisms were part of a "healthy debate." Annan has agreed to meet with the U.N. Staff Committee next Wednesday to discuss the matter.
According to the U.N. news center, staff union leaders at the three main U.N. locales -- New York, Geneva and Vienna -- had recently passed resolutions expressing "full confidence" in Annan.
Annan's second and final term has another two years and one month to run.
Calls for him to quit are threatening to overshadow this week's keenly awaited release of a report on reforming the U.N., which was drawn up by a panel appointed by the secretary-general.
The report will be officially presented on Thursday to Annan, who will then pass it on to the General Assembly.
Pressure has been building on him for some time, sparked by allegations of massive fraud in the oil-for-food program that was meant to help ordinary Iraqis cope with the effects of sanctions against the Saddam Hussein regime.
The Iraq Survey Group's "Duelfer Report" -- released last October -- charged that Saddam had abused the program to try to bribe French and Russian officials and companies in the hope of winning support in the Security Council for the lifting of sanctions.
Not only did the alleged corruption occur on Annan's watch, but questions have also been asked about the role of his son in a Swiss company contracted by the U.N. to monitor Iraq's imports under the oil-for-food program.
Despite the multiple parallel investigations currently underway -- including one headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker at Annan's request -- the secretary-general dismissed the Duelfer Report's claims regarding the Security Council members.
It was inconceivable that those "very serious and important governments" would allow themselves to be bought off in that way, Annan said in an interview with Britain's ITV network in October.
Annan has also come under fire over renewed allegations of sex crimes -- including rape, pedophilia and solicitation -- involving U.N. peacekeepers in Central Africa and unhappiness over his handling of allegations of sexual harassment and other wrongdoing against senior U.N. officials.
Further criticism greeted his recent public interventions relating to Iraq, including his claims that the U.S.-led war was "illegal" and had not made the world safer.
Yet another controversial move was his decision to send letters to President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, asking them to reconsider a planned assault against terrorists in Fallujah on the grounds it could jeopardize the credibility of next year's election.
On Wednesday, the chairman of a Senate subcommittee investigating the oil-for-food program became the most prominent figure so far to call on Annan to step down.
"The decision to call for Mr. Annan's resignation does not come easily, but I have arrived at this conclusion because the most extensive fraud in the history of the U.N. occurred on his watch," Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican from Minnesota, wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece.
Conservative columnist William Safire and Heritage Foundation scholar Nile Gardiner have also called for Annan to resign.
The State Department Wednesday declined to comment on Coleman's call.
"When the facts are determined, that is the time to determine what wrongdoing was done and what remedial steps needed to be taken," department spokesman Adam Ereli told a press briefing.
Ereli said he did not want to "point the finger to any particular individual at this point."
Annan was "committed to and supportive of the investigation" into the serious and significant oil-for-food allegations, Ereli said.
Arguably the most serious allegation being investigated by the Volcker and other inquiries is whether oil-for-food program chief Benon Sevan took bribes from the Iraqis.
But what role, if any, Annan's son, Kojo, played has also emerged as a key issue.
During the 1990s, Kojo Annan worked for a Swiss company, Cotecna, which was subsequently hired by the U.N. to inspect freight arriving in Iraq under the oil-for-food program. This raised concerns about whether fees paid to Kojo may have influenced the awarding of the contract.
Recently, it was revealed that between the time he left Cotecna at the end of 1998 and February of this year, Kojo Annan had been paid some $30,000 a year for five years.
Pressed on this on Monday, Kofi Annan told journalists in New York that he was surprised and disappointed at the disclosure. He indicated that it was news to him that the relationship between his son and the company had continued beyond 1998.
He conceded that the matter could raise "a perception of conflict of interests and wrongdoing" but urged patience while the Volcker commission completed its inquiries. According to Eckhard, Volcker has said he plans to put out an interim report in January.
Meanwhile, Cotecna spokesman Seth Goldschlager said in a statement Wednesday that Kojo Annan had had nothing whatsoever to do with the Swiss company's oil-for-food contract, which began in February 1999, several months after he left the company.
See Earlier Story:
Senator Wants Kofi Annan to Step Down (Dec. 1, 2004)
Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.
And did anybody actually expect a different reaction from this association of thugs, dictators, communists and international criminals?
Prairie
The United Nations headquarters went on the defensive Wednesday, highlighting staff members' support for beleaguered Secretary-General Kofi Annan amid calls for his resignation following a series of controversies plaguing him and the world body... "A few voices doesn't constitute a chorus," Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard
Annan should be jailed or deported. The rest of the corrupt staff should resign. Of course, then you would only have a few janitors left at the UN. Come to think of it, that would be an infinite improvement.
Eckhard added pointedly that Annan had heard no such calls from any U.N. member state.
Whoa! Now there's a surprise!
The U.N. made public the fact that more than 2,700 U.N. Secretariat staff members had shown their support for Annan by signing an email circulating internally.
How many? Even if the Divided Nations were a useful entity, couldn't they save a buck or two by cutting that number to, say, 380? Why, oh why don't news people ever question the sizes of these corrupt staffs?
"More than ever, we support the secretary-general in his balanced, fair and substantive approach," the letter said. "We also express our determination to continue to improve the workings and effectiveness of this organization."
Translation: Come with the cash. Do it today!
The drafters of the email said accusations against the U.N. had been "made without full knowledge of the facts."
Without the facts that we will protect like next week's World Wrestling Federation results.
Calls for him to quit are threatening to overshadow this week's keenly awaited release of a report on reforming the U.N., which was drawn up by a panel appointed by the secretary-general. LOL!!!
The Iraq Survey Group's "Duelfer Report" -- released last October -- charged that Saddam had abused the program to try to bribe French and Russian officials and companies in the hope of winning support in the Security Council for the lifting of sanctions.
This isn't even the tiniest part of the tip of the iceberg.
It was inconceivable that those "very serious and important governments" would allow themselves to be bought off in that way, Annan said in an interview with Britain's ITV network in October.
Annan pronouncements...priceless.
Yet another controversial move was his decision to send letters to President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, asking them to reconsider a planned assault against terrorists in Fallujah on the grounds it could jeopardize the credibility of next year's election.
How in the world will you ever have a credible election if murdering, raping, torturing terrorists aren't granted freedom to have their way all over Iraq? Never forget, terrorists are people too.
Conservative columnist William Safire
William Safire isn't now and never has been a conservative.
MOVE UN TO HAITI! THIS WOULD SOLVE TWO PROBLEMS, ONE IS TO GET IT OUT OF THE US, AND THE OTHER TO BENEFIT HAITI'S ECONOMY!
The fact that there are at least 2,700 Secretariat Staff members is enough example of blatant mismanagement to get Kofi fired.
Gag....
Uh...the Times. Sorry.
Bush is no friend of Annan's. I wonder what the strategery is that they are working to send this cretin packing? I'm sure Bush can't be seen as leading the effort.
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