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UN head of Iraq oil programme got cash, oil: probe
02-03-2005, 21h50
Don Emmert - (AFP)
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The head of the former UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq, Benon Sevan, received large payments of cash as well as allocations of Iraqi oil, an independent enquiry said.
The enquiry's first report into the scandal-tainted programme stopped short of saying Sevan took bribes but said his behaviour was unethical and in clear violation of UN rules.
The findings will turn up the heat on the United Nations, where Secretary General Kofi Annan has admitted that the scandal surrounding the largest UN aid programme in history has cast a shadow over the world body.
In a 219-page interim report into the complex programme, the probe -- headed by former US federal banking chief Paul Volcker -- said Sevan used his position to solicit oil on behalf of a Panama-registered trading company.
It said Sevan had denied asking for the allocations but that his claims "are contradicted by the first-hand accounts of Iraqi officials involved," and said questions remained about cash payments Sevan had subsequently received.
"In making such solicitations, Mr Sevan created a grave and continuing conflict of interest. His conduct was ethically improper and seriously undermined the integrity of the United Nations," the panel said.
Sevan has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The 64-billion-dollar programme was closed in November 2003, several months after the US-led war on Baghdad toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
Volcker told reporters that the findings about Sevan were the "most disturbing" part of the highly technical initial report but cautioned that his investigation was continuing.
"This is an interim report. It is not the whole story by a long shot," he said at a press conference in New York.
Oil-for-food was set up to help Iraqis cope with the sanctions slapped on Saddam's government over its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, which sparked the 1991 Gulf War.
Under UN supervision from 1996 to 2003, Baghdad was allowed to sell oil and use the revenues to purchase humanitarian supplies. Baghdad was allowed to decide who purchased the oil.
The Volcker report said Sevan asked for allocations on behalf of African Middle East Petroleum, which it said turned a 1.5 million-dollar profit on some 7.3 million barrels it received with Sevan's assistance.
Iraqi officials "certainly thought they were buying influence," Volcker said, and his report said Baghdad wanted help in getting spare parts -- restricted by the sanctions -- to rebuild its oil industry.
The report cited "evidence of Mr Sevan's receipt of large cash payments," namely some 160,000 dollars that Sevan claimed he had got from an elderly aunt in his home country of Cyprus.
It said the aunt's "modest pension" and simple lifestyle "did not suggest this to be so," and concluded that Sevan had violated UN rules and engaged in activity incompatible with the proper discharge of his duties.
"He was positioned to affect matters of substantial interest to the government of Iraq, and the government of Iraq hoped that he would act favourably in return for the allocations that he was granted," the report said.
Volcker underlined that this first interim report did not touch on some other allegations of wrongdoing in the programme, including charges surrounding Annan's son Kojo.
But the panel did say there was "convincing and uncontested evidence" that the selection of some contractors hired under the scheme -- including Banque Nationale de Paris -- did not conform to normal competitive bidding rules.
02-03-2005, 21h50
Don Emmert - (AFP)
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The head of the former UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq, Benon Sevan, received large payments of cash as well as allocations of Iraqi oil, an independent enquiry said.
The enquiry's first report into the scandal-tainted programme stopped short of saying Sevan took bribes but said his behaviour was unethical and in clear violation of UN rules.
The findings will turn up the heat on the United Nations, where Secretary General Kofi Annan has admitted that the scandal surrounding the largest UN aid programme in history has cast a shadow over the world body.
In a 219-page interim report into the complex programme, the probe -- headed by former US federal banking chief Paul Volcker -- said Sevan used his position to solicit oil on behalf of a Panama-registered trading company.
It said Sevan had denied asking for the allocations but that his claims "are contradicted by the first-hand accounts of Iraqi officials involved," and said questions remained about cash payments Sevan had subsequently received.
"In making such solicitations, Mr Sevan created a grave and continuing conflict of interest. His conduct was ethically improper and seriously undermined the integrity of the United Nations," the panel said.
Sevan has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The 64-billion-dollar programme was closed in November 2003, several months after the US-led war on Baghdad toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
Volcker told reporters that the findings about Sevan were the "most disturbing" part of the highly technical initial report but cautioned that his investigation was continuing.
"This is an interim report. It is not the whole story by a long shot," he said at a press conference in New York.
Oil-for-food was set up to help Iraqis cope with the sanctions slapped on Saddam's government over its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, which sparked the 1991 Gulf War.
Under UN supervision from 1996 to 2003, Baghdad was allowed to sell oil and use the revenues to purchase humanitarian supplies. Baghdad was allowed to decide who purchased the oil.
The Volcker report said Sevan asked for allocations on behalf of African Middle East Petroleum, which it said turned a 1.5 million-dollar profit on some 7.3 million barrels it received with Sevan's assistance.
Iraqi officials "certainly thought they were buying influence," Volcker said, and his report said Baghdad wanted help in getting spare parts -- restricted by the sanctions -- to rebuild its oil industry.
The report cited "evidence of Mr Sevan's receipt of large cash payments," namely some 160,000 dollars that Sevan claimed he had got from an elderly aunt in his home country of Cyprus.
It said the aunt's "modest pension" and simple lifestyle "did not suggest this to be so," and concluded that Sevan had violated UN rules and engaged in activity incompatible with the proper discharge of his duties.
"He was positioned to affect matters of substantial interest to the government of Iraq, and the government of Iraq hoped that he would act favourably in return for the allocations that he was granted," the report said.
Volcker underlined that this first interim report did not touch on some other allegations of wrongdoing in the programme, including charges surrounding Annan's son Kojo.
But the panel did say there was "convincing and uncontested evidence" that the selection of some contractors hired under the scheme -- including Banque Nationale de Paris -- did not conform to normal competitive bidding rules.
How dare they suspect the integrety of this poor man? Clearly, it all came from his elderly auntie!
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