Secretary General Kofi Annan said today he was "disappointed and surprised" by the latest revelations about payments to his son made by a Swiss company linked to the UN's scandal-plagued Iraqi oil program. After earlier announcing the payments had ended by 1999, a UN spokesman admitted Friday that Kojo Annan had been paid monthly until February 2004 - just weeks after media reports focused international attention on the scandal. "I understand the perception problem for the UN, or the perception of conflict of interest and wrongdoing," the UN chief told reporters at the world body's headquarters in New York. "He is an independent businessman. He is a grown man and I don't get involved with his activities - and he doesn't get involved in mine," Annan said. But he added: "Naturally, I was very disappointed and surprised."
| That's a nice, smooth explanation, except that Sonny's activities overlapped with Pop's activities, with one in a position to benefit from the other now, and the other in a position to benefit from the one later. You don't find corruption much more naked than that outside of Zim-Bob-We. |
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