U.S. Ambassador John Bolton Request Rebuffed by United Nations 

Stewart Stogel
October 7, 2006
Newsmax
Original Source: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/10/7/101810.shtml 
UNITED NATIONS -- Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said Annan will not be coerced by any nation to disclose his personal financial information. 
The U.N. is an inter-governmental organization, Dujarric said. It is not a national government. [Financial] Disclosure forms are an internal control mechanism, they were filled out by about 1,000 staff members under the understanding that they would remain confidential. 
Dujarric was responding to remarks made by U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton to reporters on Friday when he called for Annan to publicly disclose his personal financial worth before he leaves office Jan. 1, 2007. 
Bolton's move was first reported by NewsMax on Thursday (Bolton Back Efforts To Disclose Annan Finances.) 
At U.N. headquarters in New York City, the U.S. ambassador reacted to Annan's latest refusal: To be honest I do not see why all financial disclosure forms of U.N. officials are not made public . . . It is part of the responsibility we undertake in the U.S. government as senior officials, so anyone can see what our pitiful net worth is. 
Annan's retirement, will cap a career spanning more than 30 years at the United Nations. 
At no time during that period has Annan publicly disclosed the value of his personal wealth. 
While not required to do so under U.N. rules, many a staffer - as well many member states - felt that Annan was morally obligated to go the extra step in lieu of the ongoing financial scandal concerning the embezzlement-ridden Iraq Oil-for-Food Program. 
To date, conservative estimates put the amount of missing funds at slightly more than $2 billion (U.S.) of which less than $20 million has been recovered. 
No major arrests have taken place. 
While an extensive investigation conducted by former Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Paul Volcker could find no criminality concerning Annan, Volcker stopped just short of labeling Annan's administration of the U.N.'s bureaucracy as incompetent. 
With such a cloud continuing to hover over the U.N.'s executive management, several newspapers have editorialized that the time has come for Annan to come clean. 
Recent calls to go public have come from The Washington Times and The New York Sun newspapers. 
On Friday evening, in a strange turn of events, Venezuela's new U.N. ambassador added his name to the list calling for public disclosure. 
In an interview with NewsMax, Ambassador Francisco Arias Cardenas sounded supportive of the United States: It is the law in Venezuela that all government officials must declare their wealth in the public record before they take office. 
The diplomat added that he expects his government to support any effort to improve the transparency of the personal holdings of all U.N. executive management. 
Meanwhile, on Monday, the U.N. Security Council is expected to officially recommend South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-moon to the General Assembly as the new secretary-general. 
Ban will then need a simple majority vote of the G.A.'s 192 members to be elected to a five-year term as the world's premiere diplomat. 
Annan has yet to disclose what his plans will be when retires to private life.