Bush Calls for Full U.N. Oil-For-Food Probe
40 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) on Thursday called for a "full and open" accounting of the U.N. oil-for-food program but would not say whether he thought U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) should resign.
"I look forward to the full disclosure of the facts, get an honest appraisal of that which went on. And it's important for the integrity of the organization to have a full and open disclosure of all that took place with the oil-for-food program," Bush said.
Sen. Norm Coleman (news, bio, voting record) of Minnesota, who is investigating corruption in the oil-for-food program, Wednesday called on Annan to resign. He said former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) reaped some $21.3 billion from the program because of Annan's lack of oversight.
Bush, asked if Annan should resign, would not say.
"On this issue, it's very important for the United Nations (news - web sites) to understand that there ought to be a full and fair and open accounting of the oil-for-food program," he said.
"In order for the taxpayers of the United States to feel comfortable about supporting the United Nations, there has to be an open accounting," he said.
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