Annan's Chief of Staff Heads to Washington To Mend Broken Fences
BY BENNY AVNI - Special to the Sun
February 9, 2005
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/8957
UNITED NATIONS - Attempting to seize on last week's interim report on the oil-for-food scandal, U.N. Secretary-General Annan's chief of staff is scheduled to visit Washington today, where he is expected to meet some fierce critics of the United Nations.
Moving quickly since his appointment earlier this year, the new Turtle Bay powerhouse Mark Malloch Brown will try to mend fences with some of the U.N.'s harshest critics and leaders of congressional investigations competing with the U.N.-authorized probe headed by Paul Volcker. Far from being ready to let Mr. Annan off the hook, Republican critics maintain he should resign.
Spokesman Fred Eckhard said yesterday that Mr. Malloch Brown will meet with Senators Colemen, a Republican of Minnesota, and Levin, a Democrat of Michigan. The two lead the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He will also see Reps. Henry Hyde, a Republican of Illinois, and Tom Lantos, a Democrat of California, who head the House International Relations Committee, and perhaps others.
Some at the U.N. believe that the Volcker committee report last week was a turning point after which attacks from Washington might lose momentum.
Talking to [Mr. Malloch Brown] this weekend, I sensed a new sense of resolve that the U.N. was ready to take the fight back to its detractors, Peter Beaumont of the left-leaning British newspaper the Observer, reported Sunday. Malloch Brown is certain that Annan will be found in the clear, allowing him to spend the final two years of his job as secretary-general.
While some at the U.N. confirm that sense of relief, others fear complacency. One should not be lax, one official who asked not to be named told The New York Sun, adding he did not believe that the feeling that the worst is over is prevalent in Mr. Annan's circles.
Some in Washington justify those concerns. Senator Coleman continues to call for Annan's resignation, his communication director, Tom Steward, told the Sun. He added that Mr. Coleman was impressed by the seriousness of the revelations in Mr. Volcker's report. The senator will continue to follow up on them, he said.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Joe Barton, a Republican of Texas, who is leading another oil-for-food investigation, wrote a letter to Mr. Malloch Brown yesterday, accusing him of misrepresentation in a weekend inter view in which he promised better cooperation with Congress.
In light of the U.N.'s repeated refusals to provide this Committee with specific relevant documents and witnesses, the assertion that 'we are cooperating' with Congressional investigations is puzzling, if not disingenuous, Mr. Barton wrote, adding that the U.N. has yet to provide his committee with any documents or U.N. officers and employees with knowledge of the oil-for-food program.
Noting that the Volcker committee recently made internal audits public, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told the Sun that the committee, not the U.N., has full control of all oil-for-food-related material. Congress would be able to view them after the completion of the final report, he said, adding, Volcker has been talking with congressional committees.