Clinton Says Annan Is Doing 'Good Job'
BY BENNY AVNI - Special to the Sun
April 14, 2005

UNITED NATIONS - As the United Nations is under increased congressional scrutiny, Secretary-General Annan yesterday received a warm vote of confidence from an ally who is also the newest U.N. employee: former President Clinton.
In the first Turtle Bay press conference since last month's critical findings about his role in the oil-for-food scandal, Mr. Annan appeared to be pleased that most of the questions did not deal with recent scandals and even that they were mainly addressed to Mr. Clinton.
Asked whether he planned to succeed Mr. Annan, Mr. Clinton said, I support the secretary-general we have. I like him, I admire him, I think he's doing a good job. And I like the job I have.
Mr. Clinton was introduced as U.N. coordinator for South Asian tsunami relief efforts. He had been appointed to the job by Mr. Annan on a salary of $1 a year and will oversee international efforts to help nations devastated by the December 26 Indian Ocean tsunami that left at least 30,000 dead or missing.
The United Nations is coordinating the relief, and Mr. Clinton brought in his former chief of staff, Erskine Bowles, to help. He also will be on a $1 a year salary. Mr. Bowles has been working for more than a month in a top-floor office space at the United Nations that will be shared by Mr. Clinton.
From now on, Mr. Annan said, Mr. Clinton will devote himself fully to leading the United Nations effort. The former president, looking fit and recuperated after a recent heart surgery, agreed. I'm his employee, he said of Mr. Annan. It would be unseemly for me to be anything else right now.
Within Mr. Annan's close circle, many believe the worst is behind the secretary-general. Mr. Annan has been besieged by scandal and is urged by American opponents to quit his job. As someone who takes the pulse of Washington pretty continuously, I do think there's been a peaking of the really visceral right-wing 'destroy the U.N.' mode, the U.N. chief of staff, Mark Malloch Brown, told the Financial Times yesterday.
On Friday, however, the leaders of a congressional-mandated task force, a former house speaker, Newt Gingrich, and a former senate majority leader, George Mitchell, are expected to meet Mr. Annan in his office. Messrs Gingrich and Mitchell, according to a spokeswoman for the task force, Kay King, will discuss several critical issues related to a report they are preparing on the U.N. effort to meet the goals of its charter, and on ways America could help strengthen the world body.
The task force is expected to release its findings to Congress in June. There are several Capitol Hill legislation initiatives that might limit American U.N. funding as result of recent U.N. scandals. The U.N.-mandated Volcker committee also is scheduled to release a comprehensive report in June, which is expected to concentrate on issues related to overall management of the oil-for-food program.
Beyond oil for food, the United Nations continues to be shaken by internal turmoil, with one particular case going to the wire this week.The head of the U.N. internal watchdog agency, Dileep Nair, is due to retire at the end of the month. He has accumulated vacation time that might allow him to leave for his native country of Singapore even earlier.
Mr. Nair, who heads the Office of Internal Oversight Services, has been accused by staffers of abuse of his power, and last month, the Staff Union sent a letter detailing five separate complaints against him. According to Mr. Malloch Brown, a third party was appointed to look into the allegations. A U.N. spokesman, Fred Eckhard, declined yesterday to disclose the identity of the arbiter, saying only that he was a lawyer familiar with U.N. rules and procedures.
Separately, Mr. Nair was also accused by the Volcker committee of improper hiring, and the United Nations was going to censure him as result of that finding, according to Mr. Malloch Brown.