April 03, 2005 

‘Cover-up’ row on report clearing Annan
Robert Winnett
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A REPORT that “exonerated” Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary-general, of knowing about his son’s alleged links to the Iraqi oil for food affair has been called into question by a key witness. 
Documents seen by The Sunday Times show that the witness’s evidence was downgraded in the report on the eve of publication by the committee charged with investigating Annan’s role. 
The witness, Pierre Mouselli, is a French former business partner of Annan’s son Kojo. When he was initially interviewed, Mouselli claimed that the secretary-general was aware of plans by his son to do business in Iraq. 
Late last month, his lawyer e-mailed the committee to make it clear Mouselli could not be sure that over a lunch in 1998 they had specifically told Kofi about Kojo’s visit to the Iraqi embassy in Nigeria. The lawyer believes that this e-mail has been seized on by the committee to discredit Mouselli. 
Kofi Annan firmly denies any knowledge of Kojo’s links to Iraq, and the committee, following the lawyer’s e-mail, appears to have given the UN chief the benefit of the doubt — dismissing Mouselli’s recollection of the lunch because it believed there was a “conflict in statements”. However, Mouselli’s lawyer is furious at what he describes as a “cover-up”. 
Last week, Annan was able to claim that he had been cleared of a conflict of interest after the committee, headed by Paul Volcker, the former head of the American Federal Reserve, concluded that no evidence directly implicated the secretary-general in a decision to award a contract to a firm paying his son. 
Volcker is investigating the UN’s massive oil for food scheme, which allowed Saddam Hussein to sell oil to raise funds for humanitarian supplies under the auspices of the UN. It is now alleged that the programme was tainted and the committee is investigating whether Annan and other senior UN officials acted properly throughout. 
Any evidence suggesting that Annan knew his son had, or was planning to, profit from the scheme would be devastating to his future at the UN. 
Mouselli had provided the committee with evidence about Kojo Annan but he says he and his evidence have been unfairly discredited. He claims: 

·ð  The committee has accepted the bulk of his evidence in relation to Kojo Annan but has also selectively downgraded any evidence damaging to Kofi. 
·ð  The committee had acquired a fax from Cotecna, which paid Kojo as a consultant, just weeks before the Sw
iss firm won a key UN contract in Iraq. The fax asked Kojo if he had received information from his “main mentor”. The committee’s investigating team is understood to suspect this was a reference to Kofi. However, the existence of the fax was never disclosed in the report. 

·ð  Lawyers for Kofi and Kojo Annan contacted Mouselli and his lawyer after receiving early drafts of the report. They contacted Mouselli to probe him about evidence he had given about the visit to the Iraqi embassy in Nigeria. This led to Mouselli s lawyer
 s e-mail. 
·ð  Just three days before publication, the committee interviewed an anonymous Iraqi ambassador who described Mouselli as  not quite stable . This comment, added only to the report s third and final draft, undermined his credibility, even though
 other testimony by Mouselli had been independently verified. 
Mouselli’s lawyer, Adrian Gonzalez, of August and Debouzy Avocats, last week described the committee’s report as a “disgrace”. “It is clear to everyone, including Mr Mouselli, with knowledge of the committee’s work that there has been a cover-up,” he said. 
“Crucial information about Kofi Annan was removed at the last possible moment. My client has no agenda or views about what should happen to the Annans, he just told the truth but now his reputation is being ruined. 
“We were told point blank last Monday that Mouselli’s information was credible and important. Then hours before publication, a new witness suddenly emerges making derogatory comments about my client and the tone and content of the report changes.” 
Yesterday, lawyers for Kojo Annan denied that he ever “planned to go into business selling Iraqi oil and importing humanitarian aid into Iraq” or that Kofi knew of any plans. They said Mouselli’s evidence was unreliable. 
Claude Hankes-Drielsma, the former chairman of an accountancy firm who first drew the world’s attention to the oil for food scandal, said yesterday Annan should resign. “This is a serious conflict of interest which has not been addressed. This would be a resigning matter in Britain,” he said. 
Mouselli claims Kojo thrived on his father’s international reputation. The pair first met at a Bastille Day party at the French embassy in Lagos, Nigeria, in July 1998. Within days Kojo had asked Mouselli for his help with Cotecna — later to win a massive contract for the UN in Iraq — in Nigeria. By the end of July the pair had formed three companies — one to trade oil, another food, and an “inspection” business. 
In September 1998 Kojo and Mouselli travelled to a conference in South Africa attended by the UN secretary-general. They were given a room next to 
Kofi Annan, who was host to a succession of presidents, prime ministers and other senior ministers. While the ministers were talking to the secretary-general, their officials waited in the adjoining room with Kojo and Mouselli. 
“We met more than a dozen of the most important people,” said Mouselli. “They know you are the son of the head of the UN and that you want to do business: it’s very powerful. I am sure that Kofi generally knew what we were doing.” 
On the final day of the conference, the crucial meeting between the three took place in a private room at the Hilton hotel in Durban. The three discussed business plans and Mouselli has the impression that Annan was aware of the Iraqi links. 
Later, in his interviews with the Volcker investigators, Annan initially denied meeting Mouselli. But he was forced to retract the denial after being presented with evidence from his diary. However, he denies being told about his son’s Iraqi business. 
The committee is continuing its investigation into the oil for food affair and will report later this year.