Coleman: Clear evidence against U.N. official in oil-for-food probe
2/15/05
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chairman of a Senate panel said Tuesday that newly obtained Iraqi documents provide clear and direct evidence that the former head of the U.N. oil-for-food program may have benefited financially from oil deals involving Saddam Hussein's government.
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minnesota, chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs investigations subcommittee, said the documents, presented at a hearing, suggest that Benon Sevan didn't just serve as an intermediary in Iraqi oil sales, as investigators have alleged, but personally received valuable oil allocations. Sevan may have earned up to $1.2 million, according to the subcommittee's staff.
As a former prosecutor, I believe that clear and direct evidence establishes probable cause that Benon Sevan broke the law, Coleman said.
Sevan has diplomatic immunity from criminal charges in U.S. courts but faces U.N. disciplinary charges and has denied wrongdoing. His lawyer, Eric Lewis, said Monday, Benon Sevan never received any oil allocations -- period.
The $64 billion oil-for-food program allowed Saddam's government to sell oil and use the proceeds to buy food and other humanitarian items. The subcommittee and other panels are investigating allegations that Saddam manipulated the program to earn illegal revenues and bribe foreign officials.
Several senators complained that despite pledges of openness, the United Nations continues to withhold access to its officials and records. Congressional investigations have been hampered considerably by the U.N.'s reluctance to cooperate fully, said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the Governmental Affairs Committee chairwoman.
Lawmakers have raised questions of possible conflicts of interest involving Kojo Annan, son of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Kojo Annan worked for Cotecna, a Swiss company that won a contract to inspect humanitarian goods imported under the program.
Kojo Annan has denied having anything to do with the program. But the subcommittee staff, in a document prepared for the hearing, said he hadn't accounted for his activities during a 15-day visit to New York during the 1998 U.N. General Assembly. That was shortly before Cotecna was awarded the contract.
When subcommittee staff interviewed Kojo Annan on Friday, he could not explain the meaning of a cryptic internal memo he wrote before his visit, Coleman said. That memo said he had put together a machinery, centered in New York, that will facilitate the continuation of contacts established and assist in developing new contacts for the future.
Cotecna's chief executive, Robert M. Massey, told the subcommittee that Annan's employment was limited to the company's work in West Africa and he had absolutely no relationship to the oil-for-food program. He said the memo appeared to refer to his work with West African governments.
At the hearing, the subcommittee also presented documents it said shows that an employee of Saybolt International BV, a Dutch company hired to inspect oil shipments, appeared to receive a $105,819 bribe to allow an illegal oil sale in violation of Iraqi sanctions.
John Denson, Saybolt's general counsel, told the subcommittee that the company has been examining the allegations and will review the documents obtained by the subcommittee. He pledged to take appropriate disciplinary action if there is evidence to support the allegations.
In an interview Monday, Denson said the employee, identified by the subcommittee as Armando Carlos Oliveira of Portugal, has denied taking a bribe and continues to work as an inspector.
Questions about whether Sevan received money from Iraqi oil sales have lingered since his name appeared last year on an Iraqi list of oil voucher recipients. Saddam used the vouchers, which entitled bearers to cut-rate Iraqi oil, to pay supporters and foreign officials.
An interim report this month by a three-member committee accused Sevan of a conflict of interest for soliciting oil deals on behalf of a Panamanian company, African Middle East Petroleum. The committee, created by Kofi Annan and headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, said it was still investigating whether Sevan received any financial benefit.
Coleman said the Iraqi oil ministry documents obtained by the subcommittee add considerable evidence that the answer is in an unmitigable yes, that Sevan personally received oil allocations.
Coleman has been a sharp critic of the United Nations and has called for Kofi Annan's resignation.