Annan 'an open matter' in probe
By Betsy Pisik
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published July 1, 2005

NEW YORK -- Investigators probing mismanagement of the U.N. oil-for-food program said yesterday that Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his son, Kojo, remained a focus of the probe and would be mentioned in an interim report due later this month. 
    We did find severe findings against him in the second report [issued March 29] and we will be revising that. Kofi Annan is very much an open matter, said Mike Holtzman, spokesman for the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC). 
    The official also said the IIC was seeking more money and more documents, saying both will be necessary if they are to wrap up their inquiry this fall. 
    The committee is seeking up to $4 million in fresh funding for its investigation, in part because of delays it blamed on conflicts with a separate investigation by U.S. congressional committees. 
    Committee Chairman Paul Volcker could put that request to Mr. Annan next week, according to the IIC official and Security Council diplomats. 
    The IIC, which will have nearly run through $30 million in 17 months, has also requested internal documents from the Security Council committee that administered contracts over the seven-year life of the oil-for-food program. 
    The IIC expects to wrap up its inquiry into the $64 billion humanitarian program by fall with two small reports and one definitive account of the Security Council's role, potentially the most politically explosive subject yet. 
    In March, the panel issued a report that chastised Kojo Annan, a former employee and contractor for Cotecna Inspection S.A., for refusing to disclose his financial arrangement with the inspection firm, and for failing to cooperate with investigators. 
    The report criticized the senior Annan's managerial oversight of the oil-for-food program, but absolved him of contract steering. 
    But those conclusions were cast into doubt last month with the appearance of a 1998 e-mail, written by Cotecna executive Michael Wilson, an Annan family friend, asserting that Mr. Annan or a member of his staff had indicated we can count on their support. 
    Since we have the found documents from Cotecna we are urgently reviewing that entire situation, Mr. Holtzman said. We did find severe findings against him in the second report. We will be revising that, and it's very much an open matter. 
    The IIC was created by Kofi Annan in April 2004 to investigate charges in connection with the sprawling humanitarian effort. He chose Mr. Volcker to lead the effort, and asked the Security Council to fund the effort with money from the account set aside to manage the program. 
    The U.S. Congress and federal prosecutors had begun a half-dozen competing inquiries, but U.N. officials have refused to cooperate with any, except the IIC. 
    And the IIC has largely refused to work with Congress, saying that it would make available many of its documents and findings only when it was through. 
    But IIC investigator Robert Parton quit the Volcker panel this spring, complaining that the findings were too soft in light of the evidence. The former FBI investigator took several boxes of documents to a congressional committee, leading to costly subpoenas, temporary restraining orders and related legal expenses. 
    Those are costs you don't factor in at the outset of the investigation, Mr. Holtzman said. That doesn't happen for free, these are diversions that cost money. 
    He said the initial $30 million will probably run out in September. 
    The Iraqi government has always objected to using its money for the investigation. Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie said yesterday afternoon that it was ironical and inappropriate to take more money from the Iraqi people to continue the effort. 
    The IIC currently has 62 investigators based in New York, Paris and Baghdad. 
    Acting U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson told reporters yesterday afternoon that Washington favored sharing the council documents with the panel, and we would also expect that to be supported by members of the Security Council. 
    U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said yesterday Mr. Annan has asked council members for permission to turn over the files and would assume that he would have their assent by Tuesday.