Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Reuters NewMedia - December 22, 2004
Evelyn Leopold

To meet criticism in the Republican-dominated U.S. Congress that the United Nations was withholding documents, Annan said a U.N. probe led by Paul Volcker, the former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman, would produce an interim report by the end of January and release internal audit reports at that time.

"The U.S. needs the U.N. and the U.N. needs the U.S. -- and we have to find a way of working together," he said at an end-of-year news conference.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi documents show kickbacks, surcharges and bribes during the defunct $64 billion program, begun in 1996 to ease the impact of U.N. sanctions.

Iraq was allowed to sell oil to buy food, medicine and a host of civilian goods under the program, administered by the United Nations and supervised by the 15-member Security Council, including the United States.

"There is no doubt that this has been a particularly difficult year and I am relieved that this annus horribilis is coming to an end," Annan said using the Latin phrase for "horrible year." It was popularized by Britain's Queen Elizabeth in 1992 to describe the divorces of her children and a fire at Windsor Castle.

"The allegations over the oil-for-food program have cast a shadow over an operation that brought relief to millions of Iraqis," Annan said. "We must find out the truth as soon as possible."

But Annan said he intended to complete the remaining two years of his 10-year term and not resign, as some U.S. legislators demanded.

"I have the confidence and support of the member states," he said.

The secretary-general said no one in the Bush administration had supported calls for him to step down.

The scandal has hit the United Nations as Annan was pushing widespread reforms on meeting global threats, cutting dire poverty in half and reversing the threat of AIDS.

Annan also rebuffed his 31-year-old son, Kojo, under investigation for having not revealing his full relationship with a firm that ran U.N. goods inspections in Iraq.

The younger Annan, who had worked in West Africa for the Swiss company, Cotecna, has called the allegations "a witch hunt" and part of a broader Republican agenda.

"I don't agree with that," Annan said.

Most of the corruption revealed so far involves illegal transfers or smuggling of oil, which the Security Council, including the United States, knew about. But investigations are looking into whether any U.N. employees received bribes from Iraq and whether goods contracts were inflated.

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