Annan agrees to extend Oil-for-Food committee to assist country-level follow-up

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has decided to extend the mandate of the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) into the scandal-ridden Iraq Oil-for-Food Programme until the end of this year to assist national authorities who wish to follow up on the findings included in the Committee’s reports.

The 27 October final report of the Committee, under its former head Paul Volcker, revealed a network of kickbacks and surcharges involving companies registered in a wide range of countries and Mr. Annan called on Member States to take action against illegal practises by companies under their jurisdiction.

In that same report, Mr. Annan reiterated his commitment to “vital” reform of the UN management structure in response to criticism in earlier IIC reports that found failures in actions by the UN Secretariat in regard to the now defunct $64-billion Programme which allowed Saddam Hussein’s sanctions-bound regime to sell oil to buy essential supplies.

The related administrative and financial arrangements for the mandate extension – the second since the IIC’s original mandate expired at the end of 2006 – will be finalized shortly.