UNITED NATIONS – After advising his yet-unnamed successor to grow “thick skin,” Secretary-General Annan yesterday appeared to have thinned his own, lashing out at reporters who asked about United Nations and Annan family scandals. Telling the press they needed to reflect on their own work, Mr. Annan refused to allow a London Times correspondent, James Bone, to ask a question, accusing him of being “an embarrassment” to his profession.

The eruption at the secretary-general’s annual end-of-year press conference might have reflected frustrations as Mr. Annan enters his final year as Turtle Bay’s leader. Last year he was cited by the Volcker committee for poor supervision of the oil-for-food program, the United Nations failed to move on such world events as the Darfur genocide, and none of the U.N. reform ideas championed by Mr. Annan were implemented beyond window-dressing.

It also has been a year that Mr. Annan’s top aides spent attempting to repair Turtle Bay’s relations with Washington in the aftermath of his remark that the Iraq war was illegal. Despite that, and at the same time that harrowing tales of Baathist atrocities were being heard at Saddam Hussein’s trial in Baghdad, Mr. Annan yesterday said the greatest misgiving he had in his tenure as secretary-general was that he wished the United Nations had “done everything that we could have done to avoid the war in Iraq” and its effects on Turtle Bay.

The comment did not sit well with Iraqi officials. “If the United States and its allies had not removed Saddam Hussein, he would still be torturing us” rather than standing accused on trial, Iraq’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi, said when told by The New York Sun of Mr. Annan’s words.

Citing a report last year by a high-level panel that Mr. Annan appointed to review “threats, challenges, and change,” Mr. al-Istrabadi also disputed the assertion that the Iraq war had reflected badly at the world body. “Referral to the Security Council with no action is worse than no referral at all,” he quoted from the high panel report, adding that Saddam had violated actionable council resolutions for 13 years before the Bush administration moved to enforce those resolutions.

Beyond the Iraq quote, yesterday’s contentious session exacerbated the already contentious relations Mr. Annan and his top aides have developed with the press this year. At the end of the press conference, the United Nations Correspondents Association’s president, James Wurst, officially complained about Mr. Annan’s attack on Mr. Bone.

Early on in the press conference, Mr. Annan said that one piece of advice he has for whoever succeeds him as secretary-general is “they need thick skin, they need a sense of humor,” including the ability to “laugh at themselves.” Soon after, however, he said that the press needs to do “some reflection” on its oil-for-food coverage. “You missed the story” and “allowed deliberate leaks and others to lead you,” he accused reporters.

When asked by The New York Sun about the perception among U.N. staffers that there is double standard in firing two high officials while refusing to even address other, more serious, accusations against other officials, Mr. Annan said parts of the question were “libelous.” Speaking specifically about one man, former chief of staff Iqbal Riza, who has shredded reams of documents related to oil for food, Mr. Annan denied that his situation was comparable to that of President Nixon’s last days in office.

“This is not something similar to the eight minutes in the Nixon White House,” he said.

CNN’s Richard Roth asked a recurring question about the whereabouts of a Mercedes-Benz that was bought in Mr. Annan’s name by the secretary general’s son, Kojo. The son’s childhood friend, Michael Wilson, who is an executive at the Swiss-based Cotecna company, which employed the two, and the secretary-general himself contributed to the car’s purchase, and Mr. Annan has been unable to say where the car is now.

“You are all obsessed about the car,” Mr. Annan said, but refused to add any information beyond: “Please direct your questions to his lawyers or to him.”

“I am neither his spokesman nor his lawyer,” he said, speaking of his son.

Later, Mr. Annan finally lost his cool when Mr. Bone began a question by following up on Mr. Roth’s inquiry about the car.

“Hold on, listen, James Bone,” Mr. Annan said. “You have been behaving like an overgrown schoolboy in this room for many, many months and years. You are an embarrassment to your colleagues and to your profession. Please stop misbehaving, and please let’s move on to a more serious subject.”

He then refused to allow the reporter to get to his question, which was left unasked. Mr. Bone later told the Sun that he wanted to ask a detailed question about inconsistencies in Mr. Annan’s testimony before the Volcker commission.

At the end of the conference, Mr. Wurst of the correspondents association said that Mr. Bone, who is “not an embarrassment,” has “every right to ask the question.” Mr. Annan complained that his spokesmen have been “badgered, mistreated, insulted” by reporters’ questions, adding, “There is a certain behavior and a certain mutual respect which we have to respect.”