Posted on 12/02/2004 11:25:26 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac pledged their support here on Thursday for embattled UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
"Germany and France reiterate their full support for Kofi Annan whose commitment to the aims of the United Nations is total," Chirac said at a press conference after holding talks with Schroeder.
Schroeder also pledged his support for Annan, whose resignation is being sought by a US senator over the scandal-plagued Iraq oil-for-food program.
US Senator Norm Coleman, the Republican chairman of the Senate investigations subcommittee that is conducting its own probe of the oil-for-food program, wrote in The
Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that Annan should step down because of fraud that occurred "on his watch."
The oil-for-food program, launched in December 1996 and terminated in November 2003, was intended to ease the effects on Iraqis of the international sanctions imposed on the regime of Saddam Hussein.
But US congressional investigators say Saddam's regime may have skimmed billions of dollars from the program, and allegations have surfaced of pay-offs to officials and private individuals from around the globe.
US President George W. Bush, speaking in Washington on Thursday, called for a "full and fair and open" probe into the UN oil-for-food scheme in which Annan's son is implicated.
Bush did not sign on to Coleman's call for Annan to resign but nor did he distance himself from the demand.
A French official said on the sidelines of the press conference here that Schroeder and Chirac had telephoned Annan to offer their "friendship and support".
The two leaders also welcomed the proposals for a radical reform of the United Nations which were published this week.
German, French leaders pledge support for embattled Annan
LUEBECK, Germany, Dec 2 (AFP) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac pledged their support here on Thursday for embattled UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
"Germany and France reiterate their full support for Kofi Annan whose commitment to the aims of the United Nations is total," Chirac said at a press conference after holding talks with Schroeder.
Schroeder also pledged his support for Annan, whose resignation is being sought by a US senator over the scandal-plagued Iraq oil-for-food program.
US Senator Norm Coleman, the Republican chairman of the Senate investigations subcommittee that is conducting its own probe of the oil-for-food program, wrote in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that Annan should step down because of fraud that occurred "on his watch."
The oil-for-food program, launched in December 1996 and terminated in November 2003, was intended to ease the effects on Iraqis of the international sanctions imposed on the regime of Saddam Hussein.
But US congressional investigators say Saddam's regime may have skimmed billions of dollars from the program, and allegations have surfaced of pay-offs to officials and private individuals from around the globe.
US President George W. Bush, speaking in Washington on Thursday, called for a "full and fair and open" probe into the UN oil-for-food scheme in which Annan's son is implicated.
Bush did not sign on to Coleman's call for Annan to resign but nor did he distance himself from the demand.
A French official said on the sidelines of the press conference here that Schroeder and Chirac had telephoned Annan to offer their "friendship and support".
The two leaders also welcomed the proposals for a radical reform of the United Nations which were published this week.
Oh wow big surprise there. Bonnie and Clyde support Al Capone.
Hanging together?
Birds of a feather..
Peas in the same pod.
"Thick as thieves"...
The corrupt pigs at the UN keep feeding at the trough...
"Birds of a feather"
Chirac and Schroeder back embattled Annan
===
Reminds me of playing poker -- 3 of a kind !!!
Why should that surprise anyone? Chirac and Schroeder are probably worried that they will be next on the list of targets of the investigation.
Great analogy!
Why does this NOT surprise me?
Oil for Fools Program.
This time they lack Putin, who apparently has seen the light at the end of the tunnel. And it was a train called Islamofascism.
Moe and Larry back embattled Curly.
Friendship and Support? For overseeing the biggest rip off in history and by enabling Hussein, causing American and coalition forces to perhaps unnecessarily die?
The blood of American soldiers is on the hands of all three of these losers.
Crooks of a feather. . .
The Coalition of the Corrupt in true form.
These three would make great Cell Mates!! They support each other!!
The worm continued, "And that aim is to provide a respectable counterbalance in the world to the unbridled imperialist powers of the evil and intolerant United States of America while having that evil empire pay most of the costs of the UN itself as well as providing for the safety of the entire world against the threats of world-wide totalitarianism."
I believe that was the complete sentence. They left off the last part because it goes without saying in the UN circles.
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