Annan Says 'Concessions' Made to Saddam
LONDON (AP) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in an interview broadcast Sunday that ``concessions'' were made to Saddam Hussein to win his agreement to the oil-for-food program because there were concerns the Iraqi people would starve without it.
Annan told British Broadcasting Corp. television's ``Breakfast With Frost'' program he has no plans to resign over the allegations of kickbacks and bribes in the oil-for-food program. ``It was a political arrangement, it was a transaction that was intended to force Saddam Hussein to comply with the inspection requirements, disarmament requirements, and, in the process, concessions were also made to him,'' Annan said.
``Saddam had resisted the scheme for several years and there was concern that if something is not done the Iraqi population will starve. And some of these concessions were the price they had to pay to get the scheme off the ground,'' he added. ``In retrospect, one may criticize it. But at the time, because of the urgency and the need to help the Iraqi people, some concessions were made.''
Several U.S. congressional committees have been investigating allegations of corruption in the program that allowed the former government of Iraq to sell oil and use the proceeds to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian goods.
Concerns about Annan's leadership deepened with the release of an interim report last week from an investigation led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker which criticized U.N. management of the program.
Annan said he was awaiting the results of the investigation and he expected the full report to show how complex the oil-for-food program was. ``In the meantime I have put forward solid and bold proposals for reform, so resignation is not on the cards for me at the moment,'' Annan said in the interview.
02/13/05 13:00
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