Businessman denies discussing bid with Annan
The brief statement from Michael Wilson's lawyers left one key question unanswered: did anyone else talk to the secretary-general about the bid from the Swiss company Cotecna Inspection?
A memo from Mr Wilson describes a brief encounter in which officials from Cotecna discussed the company's bid for the contract with the UN chief "and his entourage" during a summit of French-speaking nations in Paris in late 1998.
The London law firm Schillings issued a brief statement on Wednesday on behalf of Mr Wilson, who was a vice-president of Cotecna at the time and is a friend of both Mr Annan and his son, Kojo, in response to press reports about the memo.
"Mr Wilson never met or had any discussion with the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, on the issue of the bid for the UN contract by Cotecna at the Francophone Summit, during the bidding process, or at any time prior to the award of the contract," the statement said.
In the December 4, 1998, memo, Mr Wilson said: "We had brief discussions with the SG and his entourage. Their collective advice was that we should respond as best we could to the Q&A session of the 1-12-98 and that we could count on their support."
The numbers - December 1, 1998 - were the date of a discussion Mr Wilson had with UN procurement officials. The SG is shorthand for the secretary-general.
A second memo from Mr Wilson, sent minutes after the first, described earlier discussions with UN procurement officials and described his confidence that the company would get the bid. Cotecna said that memo had been turned over to investigators last year.
Cotecna was awarded the $10 million-a-year contract on December 11, 1998.
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said on Tuesday that UN officials reviewed the records of Mr Annan's 1998 Paris trip "and there is no mention in that trip record of any exchange with Michael Wilson".
Mr Annan also had "no recollection of any such exchange", Mr Eckhard said.
Mr Wilson's memo also referred to a "KA" who made courtesy calls to various African leaders at the Paris summit. That could be Kojo Annan, then a Cotecna consultant.
Mr Eckhard said it would be reasonable to assume that Kofi and Kojo Annan would have met in Paris if Kojo Annan was there, though he knew of no record of it. If Kojo Annan was in Paris, the memo raises the possibility that Kofi Annan discussed the Cotecna bid with his son, and not with Mr Wilson.
Both Annans deny any link between Kojo Annan's employment and the awarding of the UN contract to the company.
In an interview with France's Le Figaro newspaper, Mr Annan said he has no intention of resigning and is determined to press for approval of a sweeping reform proposal unveiled in March to enable the UN to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
