UNITED NATIONS - The chief of the U.N. oil-for-food probe accused Congress of jeopardizing his work and asked a House committee to return secret documents, saying the lives of some witnesses could be at stake. But the Republican lawmaker who heads the committee promptly refused.
At a news conference Friday, Volcker reiterated that there simply was never enough evidence to prove that Annan influenced the awarding of an oil-for-food contract to the Swiss company that employed his son, Kojo Annan. But he again insisted that his committee finding was not the exoneration that Kofi Annan claimed it was.
He also asked the House International Relations Committee to return secret documents Parton has given it, warning that witnesses could be threatened if anything leaks out.
"We're not playing games here, we are dealing — and let me just emphasize this — in some cases with lives," Volcker said.
But Illinois Republican Henry Hyde, the chairman of the committee, rejected the request, saying in a statement late Friday that he appreciates "the gravity of the concerns" but his panel has "an obligation to continue its inquiry."
U.S. lawmakers have also accused Volcker of undue secrecy, which Volcker has angrily denied. Earlier in the week, the exchanges got so heated U.N. officials began to fear Volcker's probe could lose face and its findings be seen as irrelevant.
Volcker said Friday his main concern was to keep his probe credible so it could keep doing its work. His committee is expected to finish this summer with a report that will examine how much countries on the U.N. Security Council knew about the oil-for-food wrongdoing.
Volcker suggested that concern over the upcoming findings might be behind the turmoil.
"I do think that as our investigation proceeds, there are people, and I'm not talking about committee chairmen, who would just assume we go away," he said.
Complete article at Yahoo.
2 comments:
The U.N. has got to have something done to it. Cleaning house may be enough...but I think much more will have to be done. It is a perplexing situation on what exactly to do, other than dismantle, and that would be quite difficult. The U.S. should definitely remove its funding and charter, but then again....it is quite complicated. It is definitely a powerful and evil organization! And something needs to be done.
Great post!
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