Oil-for-food programme ‘failed ideals of UN’

IN A devastating assessment of the United Nations oil-for-food programme in Iraq, investigators yesterday strongly criticised Secretary General Kofi Annan, his deputy and the Security Council for allowing Saddam Hussein to bilk €10 billion as a result of the giant humanitarian operation.

The Independent Inquiry Committee's report on the oil-for-food programme said those managing the programme both UN member states and the world body's staff failed the ideals of the UN, ignoring clear evidence of corruption and waste that flourished after it was created in 1996.

"The inescapable conclusion from the committee's work is that the United

Nations organisation needs thorough reform and it needs it urgently," the report said.

The report's conclusions and its strong urging for change come a week before world leaders gather for a summit in New York to consider a host of Mr Annan's own reform initiatives.

Former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, who was the chairman of the investigation, came to the Security Council to present the report at a meeting attended by Annan.

"In essence, the responsibility for the failures must be broadly shared, starting, we believe, with member states and the Security Council itself," Mr Volcker told the council.

The committee said the instances of corruption that reached the top of the programme reflected the absence of a strong institutional ethic in an organisation that should exemplify the highest global standards because of its "unique and crucial role."

Mr Annan accepted the criticism in a briefing to the council: "The findings in today's report must be deeply embarrassing to us all," Mr Annan said.

Despite the criticism of him and his deputy, he said: "I don't anticipate anyone to resign. We are carrying on with our work."

One of the largest humanitarian programmes in history, oil-for-food was a lifeline for 90% of Iraq's population of 26 million. But Saddam was allowed to choose the buyers of Iraqi oil and the sellers of humanitarian goods, and used that power to curry favour by awarding oil contracts to former government officials, activists, journalists and UN officials who opposed the sanctions.