#19 Bush administration backs UN Sec. Gen. Kofi Annan
They are denying his role in the oil-for-food scam because he is a man of integrity, and they don't want to cloud the image of the UN.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041209/ts_nm/un_usa_annan_dc
Bush Administration Breaks Silence to Back Annan
Thu Dec 9,By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Bush administration expressed confidence in U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday and said he should stay in office, in a belated rebuff to demands from Republicans in Congress for his resignation.
U.S. Ambassador John Danforth called reporters together to deliver the comments, saying that he had to clarify the U.S. position after his colleagues and the media believed the United States government was not supporting Annan.
"We are expressing confidence in the secretary-general and his continuing in office," Danforth said, "No one to my knowledge has cast doubt on the personal integrity of the secretary-general. No one."
"We are not suggesting or pushing for the resignation of the secretary-general," said Danforth, adding that he was speaking for the White House and the State Department.
U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican, who was later joined by five congressmen, last week called for the resignation of Annan, who has two more years in office before completing his second five-year term.
They accused him of presiding over corruption in the U.N. oil-for-food program for Iraq, administered by the United Nations but supervised by the 15-nation Security Council. In reaction, the 191-member U.N. General Assembly gave Annan a standing ovation on Wednesday and the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Australia either issued statements or telephoned the secretary-general to voice support.
Previous statements by the White House and by Danforth have mainly emphasized the need for an open investigation into the scandal and Danforth repeated that on Thursday. After Coleman's statement, President Bush neither defended Annan nor joined calls for his ouster, saying only he wanted a "full and open accounting" of the now-defunct oil-for-food program.
"The worst thing, to continue the cloud over an organization, is to give the impression that something is being hidden or that there is not total cooperation," Danforth said. "And that really is deadly in any kind of an organization and that would have to be resolved."
But he said, "Our view of the performance of the secretary-general is that he has done a good job, that he is doing a good job, that we have worked with him, that we anticipate working with him in the future. He noted Annan's help on the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan and on planned elections in Iraq.
Danforth also played down reports that Annan's son, Kojo, had not full disclosed his ties to a firm hired by the United Nations to inspect goods in Iraq. The younger Annan worked for the Swiss company Cotecna in West Africa.
"The son is an adult and I think generally speaking there is a perceived difference and a real difference between adult children and parents," he said.
The oil-for-food program, investigated by some five congressional committees, was launched in December 1996 and continued until last year to allow Baghdad to supply civilian goods to ordinary Iraqis, suffering under U.N. sanctions imposed in 1990.
Most of the corruption revealed so far involves illegal transfers or smuggling of oil, which the Security Council, including the United States, knew about and controlled. But investigations, including one set up by Annan, are also looking into whether any U.N. employees received bribes from Iraq and how much U.N. staff knew about inflated contracts.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041209/ts_nm/un_usa_annan_dc
Bush Administration Breaks Silence to Back Annan
Thu Dec 9,By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Bush administration expressed confidence in U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday and said he should stay in office, in a belated rebuff to demands from Republicans in Congress for his resignation.
U.S. Ambassador John Danforth called reporters together to deliver the comments, saying that he had to clarify the U.S. position after his colleagues and the media believed the United States government was not supporting Annan.
"We are expressing confidence in the secretary-general and his continuing in office," Danforth said, "No one to my knowledge has cast doubt on the personal integrity of the secretary-general. No one."
"We are not suggesting or pushing for the resignation of the secretary-general," said Danforth, adding that he was speaking for the White House and the State Department.
U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican, who was later joined by five congressmen, last week called for the resignation of Annan, who has two more years in office before completing his second five-year term.
They accused him of presiding over corruption in the U.N. oil-for-food program for Iraq, administered by the United Nations but supervised by the 15-nation Security Council. In reaction, the 191-member U.N. General Assembly gave Annan a standing ovation on Wednesday and the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Australia either issued statements or telephoned the secretary-general to voice support.
Previous statements by the White House and by Danforth have mainly emphasized the need for an open investigation into the scandal and Danforth repeated that on Thursday. After Coleman's statement, President Bush neither defended Annan nor joined calls for his ouster, saying only he wanted a "full and open accounting" of the now-defunct oil-for-food program.
"The worst thing, to continue the cloud over an organization, is to give the impression that something is being hidden or that there is not total cooperation," Danforth said. "And that really is deadly in any kind of an organization and that would have to be resolved."
But he said, "Our view of the performance of the secretary-general is that he has done a good job, that he is doing a good job, that we have worked with him, that we anticipate working with him in the future. He noted Annan's help on the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan and on planned elections in Iraq.
Danforth also played down reports that Annan's son, Kojo, had not full disclosed his ties to a firm hired by the United Nations to inspect goods in Iraq. The younger Annan worked for the Swiss company Cotecna in West Africa.
"The son is an adult and I think generally speaking there is a perceived difference and a real difference between adult children and parents," he said.
The oil-for-food program, investigated by some five congressional committees, was launched in December 1996 and continued until last year to allow Baghdad to supply civilian goods to ordinary Iraqis, suffering under U.N. sanctions imposed in 1990.
Most of the corruption revealed so far involves illegal transfers or smuggling of oil, which the Security Council, including the United States, knew about and controlled. But investigations, including one set up by Annan, are also looking into whether any U.N. employees received bribes from Iraq and how much U.N. staff knew about inflated contracts.
posted by T.G. at 9:30 PM
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