Kofi Annan

Washington, Dec. 2 (Reuters): A US Senator investigating corruption in the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq said yesterday UN secretary-general Kofi Annan should resign because the fraud took place on his watch.

Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, chairman of the Senate Permanent Sub-committee on Investigations, said former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein reaped some $21.3 billion from the oil-for-food programme because of Annan?s lack of oversight.

?The decision to call for Mr Annan?s resignation does not come easily, but I have arrived at this conclusion because the most extensive fraud in the history of the UN occurred on his watch,? Coleman, a first term Republican Senator, said in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.

Coleman said Annan was ?at the helm of the UN for all but a few days of the OFF (oil-for-food) programme, and therefore, he must be held accountable for the UN?s utter failure to detect or stop Saddam?s abuses.?

In New York, UN chief spokesman Fred Eckhard said there had been only ?a few voices? calling for Annan's resignation.

?His substantive agenda is strong. He is committed to it. He has heard no calls for resignation from any member state,? Eckhard said. He added that Annan was ?intent on continuing his substantive work for the remaining two years and one month of his term.? The oil-for-food programme began in December 1996 to alleviate the impact on ordinary Iraqis of sanctions, imposed when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990.

The UN Security Council allowed Iraq to sell oil and buy food, medicine and other goods and let Baghdad draw up its own contracts. Congressional investigators said this left room for abuse in the $64 billion program, administered by the UN and monitored by a Security Council panel, including the United States.

Coleman said the UN ?simply cannot root out its own corruption while Annan is in charge.?

The UN has refused to hand over documents to Coleman?s sub-committee or allow the head of the oil-for-food programme, Benon Sevan, to appear before a panel while its own investigation is under way, led by Paul Volcker, the former US Federal Reserve chairman.

Eckhard said the Volcker commission?s work was continuing ?and we have no reason to think it will not be a full, fair and thorough investigation.?

?I think it is much wiser to wait for the full investigation to be completed before allocating blame,? he said.

Thousands of UN staff as well as African nations rallied yesterday around Annan.

On a UN internal e-mail system, started two days ago, some 3,000 staff have so far have signed on to a letter saying many of the accusations levelled against the world body were ?made without full knowledge of the facts.? ?More than ever, we support the secretary-general in his balanced, fair and substantive approach,? the letter said.