UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Annan yesterday again found himself needing to distance the United Nations from statements made by an official in his inner circle who was publicly spewing anti-American and anti-Israeli views.

After Mr. Annan’s special adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi, accused America of urging the Middle East to respect individual freedoms while disregarding the human rights of Palestinian Arabs, while speaking at an international gathering in Dubai yesterday, Mr. Annan issued a statement saying those views “do not reflect United Nations policies.”

The statement came after the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, Tom Lantos of California, paid a visit meant to show solidarity with the beleaguered Mr. Annan. Mr. Lantos, a strong supporter both of the U.N. and of a close alliance between America and Israel, conveyed his outrage upon reading Mr. Brahimi’s quotes.

Speaking at the opening of a three-day Arab strategy forum in Dubai, Mr. Brahimi, who has represented Mr. Annan in Iraq and Afghanistan and is one of his closest advisers, said, “The United States, which uses human rights as the focal point of its foreign policy, totally forgets about human rights when it comes to the Palestinians.

“They who support Israel so much must talk to Israel about these rights. There is a lot of Arab blame directed at the United States because of this,” he said. This was an “outrageous statement, and not the first one” by Mr. Brahimi, Mr. Lantos told reporters after meeting with Mr. Annan. “Brahimi is doing both the United Nations and the secretary-general personally great damage by his reckless and irresponsible public statements.”

Mr. Annan later said that he has been working “closely and harmoniously” with the leaders of “the quartet,” which includes the U.N., Russia, the European Union, and America, promoting a “just, comprehensive, and lasting peace” between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs. America’s leadership in that forum, Mr. Annan added, is “indispensable.”

Mr. Lantos told The New York Sun his meeting with Mr. Annan was “excellent,” adding their friendship “goes back for many years.” He said, however that he discussed some problems at the U.N. that “the Volcker report will obviously reveal.” He was referring to a U.N.-mandated investigation headed by Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman, which is expected to release some of its findings in late January.

Mr. Lantos later added that he could not disclose which problems that investigation would reveal, but defined the oil-for-food scandals as a “serious cloud that hangs over the U.N.” He said that after the Volcker report is released he expects a full congressional hearing.

“We are a major underwriter of the United Nations and we are fully entitled to receive everything,” he told the Sun. But unlike some of his colleagues, Mr. Lantos said that waiting for the release of all the relevant U.N. data and for interviews with U.N. officials until Mr. Volcker releases his report “is acceptable.”