Annan summons UN council on probe into Iraq scandal

1.00pm

NEW YORK - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan summoned Security Council members on Thursday to get firm backing for an independent inquiry into charges of corruption in the UN-run Iraq oil-for-food programme.

In a letter to council members obtained by Reuters, Annan defined terms of the probe, saying it would look into allegations of corruption among UN officials and outside firms dealing with Iraq under the now-defunct US$65 billion humanitarian plan.

Evidence in the media from documents found in Iraq -- but not given to the United Nations -- alleges payoffs, smuggling and bribes under the programme. The worst allegation for the world body is a bribe said to have been paid to the plan's head, Benon Sevan, who has vigorously denied it.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said Annan was looking for a "nod" from the council, perhaps in a statement or a letter, after his meeting late on Thursday.

"Without the full cooperation of governments and companies, the investigation is not likely to succeed," Eckhard said.

Diplomats said a resolution mandating that all UN members co-operate with an investigation would probably fail. Many of the firms and individuals charged with wrongdoing were from the 15 Security Council member states.

Annan has not asked for council approval for the probe, which he said would go ahead one way or another.

The oil-for-food plan, which began in late 1996, was intended to ease the impact of 1991 Gulf War sanctions on ordinary Iraqis by allowing Baghdad to sell oil to pay for humanitarian goods. Iraq selected the buyers of its oil and vendors of goods.

Annan's letter said the inquiry would be authorised to approach and seek cooperation of member states and "their relevant authorities."

He did not say how much the probe would cost or who would head it. Eckhard said names were expected to be announced within a week.

Annan in the letter said the probe also would determine:

-- whether procedures established by the Security Council and UN secretariat for monitoring and approving contracts were violated.

-- whether any UN officials, personnel and agents or outside contractors engaged in "any illicit or corrupt activities," including bribery, imposing surcharges and other illicit payments.

-- whether UN accounts were in order.

Annan said the independent commission could engage professional investigators, auditors, accountants, forensic experts and others and issue a report within three months after the start of the probe.

The burgeoning scandal is one of the worst to hit the world body, giving fodder to its long-time critics. It also comes as the Bush administration wants the United Nations to help Iraqis form an interim government

The US General Accounting Office, an interagency body headed by the Treasury Department, says Iraqi elites raised US$4.4 billion by imposing illegal surcharges. Ousted Iraq President Saddam Hussein is estimated to have smuggled another US$5.7 billion in oil outside the UN programme through Syria, Jordan and Turkey.

Many of the programme's contracts, as well as previous allegations of wrongdoing, were reviewed by the Security Council's sanctions committee, composed of all 15 council nations.

Some were brought to the panel's attention by Sevan, others by the United States and Britain over the years. But members, sharply divided over Iraq, often took no action.

The Iraqi Governing Council has also launched an investigation and several have been announced in Washington, by Congress, the Pentagon and others. Britain is probing its own firms.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq