Editing Kofi Annan (section)

==== Oil-for-Food scandal ====
In December 2004, reports surfaced that the Secretary-General's son [[Kojo Annan]] received payments from the Swiss company [[Cotecna Inspection SA]], which had won a lucrative contract under the UN [[Oil-for-Food Programme]]. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Laurence|first1=Charles|last2=Gilmore|first2=Inigo|title=Kofi Annan calls for full oil-for-food 'scandal' inquiry|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1457428/Kofi-Annan-calls-for-full-oil-for-food-scandal-inquiry.html|access-date=19 August 2018|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=21 March 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820074557/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1457428/Kofi-Annan-calls-for-full-oil-for-food-scandal-inquiry.html|archive-date=20 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> On 11 November 2005, ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' agreed to apologise and pay a substantial sum in damages to Kojo Annan, accepting that the allegations were untrue.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/nov/11/sundaytimes.pressandpublishing|newspaper=The Guardian|title=Sunday Times pays out over Annan story|date=11 November 2005|access-date=19 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819214239/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/nov/11/sundaytimes.pressandpublishing|archive-date=19 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Annan appointed the [[Independent Inquiry Committee]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iic-offp.org/about.htm|title=About the Committee|access-date=12 December 2006|publisher=Independent Inquiry Committee into The United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061212194301/http://www.iic-offp.org/about.htm|archive-date=12 December 2006}}</ref> which was led by former [[US Federal Reserve]] chairman [[Paul Volcker]],<ref name="Members">{{cite web|url=http://www.iic-offp.org/members.htm|title=Members|access-date=12 December 2006|publisher=Independent Inquiry Committee into The United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061212193944/http://www.iic-offp.org/members.htm|archive-date=12 December 2006}}</ref> then the director of the [[United Nations Association of the US]]. In his first interview with the Inquiry Committee, Annan denied meeting with Cotecna. Later in the inquiry, he recalled having met with Cotecna's chief executive [[Elie-Georges Massey]] twice. In a final report issued on 27 October, the committee found insufficient evidence to indict Annan on any illegal actions but did find fault with [[Benon Sevan]], an Armenian-Cypriot national who had worked for the UN for about 40 years. Appointed by Annan to the Oil-For-Food role, Sevan repeatedly asked Iraqis for allocations of oil to the African Middle East Petroleum Company. Sevan's behaviour was "ethically improper", Volcker said to reporters. Sevan repeatedly denied the charges and argued that he was being made a "[[Scapegoating|scapegoat]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243909,00.html|title=Former U.N. Oil-for-Food Chief Benon Sevan Indicted Over Bribes From Saddam's Regime|date=16 January 2007|access-date=30 June 2012|work=Fox News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528045619/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243909,00.html|archive-date=28 May 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Volcker report was highly critical of the UN management structure and the Security Council oversight. It strongly recommended a new chief operating officer (COO) position to handle the fiscal and administrative responsibilities then under the Secretary-General's office. The report listed the Western and Middle Eastern companies that had benefited illegally from the program.<ref name="Members" />