UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan fired staff member Joseph Stephanides for wrongdoing in the oil-for-food scandal, a UN spokesman said today – the first dismissal stemming from alleged corruption in the multibillion-dollar programme.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has suspended the head of the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq and a senior official who dealt with contracts following an independent investigation that accused them of misconduct.