Russia Claims Law Forbids It From Helping in U.N. Probe

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

UNITED NATIONS – Information requested by U.N.-mandated investigators was not supplied by the Russian foreign ministry because of a conflict with state laws, Moscow’s envoy to the U.N. said yesterday, adding that some of the data might have been destroyed.


The Russian ambassador, Andrey Denisov, told The New York Sun that Russian “regulations” were the reason for the refusal to provide cable communication data to investigators of the team headed by Paul Volcker.


The dispute points to at least one potential conflict between Russian state laws and the Security Council’s call for all member states to help in the investigation, which carries the weight of international law. It also highlights the limits of the Volcker investigation, which lacks subpoena powers.


Many at the U.N. believe that the oil-for-food scandal, which underlies the calls for Secretary-General Annan to resign, is the responsibility of member states, rather than the U.N. leadership, and that this view will be vindicated when Mr. Volcker presents an interim report, expected in January.


Mr. Denisov told the Sun that diplomatic cable from the Russian Foreign Ministry, which Mr. Volcker’s investigators demanded to see on a visit to Moscow last month, were not provided because of Russian regulations that forbid showing them to outsiders. Furthermore, he said, many of the cables have probably been lost once they were archived by the ministry and erased after a period of time.


“According to our regulations it is simply prohibited,” Mr. Denisov said, regarding the handing over of the disputed data. Cables are “classified information that cannot be provided to any foreigner.” In addition, he said, a “good part of this information simply does not exist,” since it had been archived by the ministry and then destroyed. He added that most of the “facts and figures” in the disputed cables has been handed over by Moscow to the Security Council organ that oversaw the program, known as the “661 Committee,” so named after the resolution that established it.


All 661 Committee documents were handed over to the Volcker committee, but investigators presumably wanted to verify the information supplied by Russia with information in the cables. Meanwhile, after a meeting in Moscow yesterday between President Putin and Prime Minister Allawi of Iraq, officials in Moscow said Russia would try to win back oil contracts it signed under Saddam Hussein’s regime in exchange for Moscow’s promise to write off 90% of Iraq’s $8 billion debt, Agence France-Presse reported. The news agency Interfax earlier reported that Iraq’s ambassador in Russia, Abdul Hashim Mustafa, demanded that all of the debt be erased, and that if any wrongdoing is proved against Russia in the oil-for-food scandal that Moscow should compensate Iraq.


At Turtle Bay, meanwhile, calls for Kofi Annan to resign his post as secretary-general, which he once again rejected yesterday, nevertheless became the talk of the organization.


As the demands for Mr. Annan to step down gain steam in America, they have gained little traction among U.N. diplomats and world leaders, who have increasingly rallied behind the beleaguered secretary-general and displayed hostility toward those who call for his resignation. A nonbinding resolution in the House of Representatives calling on Mr. Annan to resign gained momentum with 58 House members co-sponsoring the bill. Plus, over 100 members of Congress have called for stopping American payments to the U.N. until it cooperates with American investigations into the oil-for-food scandal.


At the same time, world leaders including President Chirac of France and Prime Minister Zapatero of Spain called Mr. Annan yesterday to hand him their support, and Prime Minister Blair of Britain relayed his support in a statement. At a monthly luncheon in which the 15 members of the Security Council hosted Mr. Annan, German Ambassador Gunter Pleuger called on all council members to show their support for Mr. Annan, according to one participant, Pakistan’s ambassador, Munir Akram.


Mr. Annan told reporters earlier that he intends to “carry on” with the U.N. work for the next year.”I have quite a lot of work to do,”Mr.Annan said.”We have a major agenda next year, and the year ahead, trying to reform the organization.” On Monday, however, spokesman Fred Eckhard indicated that the attacks on Mr. Annan have taken their toll.


“It’s not easy for him to take demands for his resignation from a few United States lawmakers and a few United States publications,” Mr. Eckhard said. “Nobody in the room called for Kofi Annan’s resignation,” Mr. Pleuger told reporters after the luncheon. “On the contrary, we all expressed our confidence in the secretary-general.” Others relayed similar sentiment, with the exception of the American ambassador, John Danforth, who like the rest of the Bush administration remained noncommittal.


“I have great confidence in the secretary general,” Mr. Danforth told reporters, but added, “You can’t make up your mind before the facts are in. You just have to let the facts speak for themselves.” Other ambassadors flaunted their opposition to the American calls for Mr. Annan’s resignation. “Nobody can understand it,” the French ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, told the Sun. “These attacks against the secretary-general are attacks against the U.N. We need Annan’s leadership.”


Iraq’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Feisal al-Istrabadi, said that the onus of the oil-for-food scandal should be on members of the council, who he said oversaw the program through the 661 Committee, rather than on Mr. Annan. “It’s not clear to me why these allegations should fall on the head of the secretary-general,” he told the Sun.


ANNAN WATCH


The following is a list of politicians and press outlets that have called for Secretary-General Annan to resign:


The New York Sun
The New Republic
National Review
New York Times columnist William Safire
New York Post
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The Montana News
Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Post (Canada)
The Times of London
The Robesonian (North Carolina)


Fernando Ferrer
Senator Norman Coleman of Minnesota
Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama
Senator John Ensign of Nevada
Rep. Vito Fossella of New York
Rep. Peter King of New York
Rep. Scott Garrett of New Jersey
Rep. Roger Wicker of Mississippi
Rep. Timothy Murphy of Pennsylvania
Rep. Daniel Burton of Indiana
Rep. Michael Pence of Indiana
Rep. Michael Simpson of Idaho
Rep. C.L. Otter of Idaho
Rep. Gene Taylor of Mississippi
Rep. John Duncan Jr. of Tennessee
Rep. James Gibbons of Nevada
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland
Rep. Charles Pickering of Mississippi
Rep. Robin Hayes of North Carolina
Rep. Paul Gillmor of Ohio
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida
Rep. Thomas Tancredo of Colorado
Rep. Peter Sessions of Texas
Rep. James Ryun of Kansas
Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona
Rep. Samuel Johnson of Texas
Rep. Thomas Feeney of Florida
Rep. Virgil Goode Jr. of Virginia
Rep. Max Burns of Georgia
Rep. Randy Neugebauer of Texas
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan
Rep. Michael Rogers of Michigan
Rep. William Jenkins of Tennessee
Rep. John Culberson of Texas
Rep. John Boozman of Arkansas
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas
Rep. Zachary Wamp of Tennessee
Rep. John Doolittle of California
Rep. David Camp of Michigan
Rep. Sue Myrick of North Carolina
Rep. Don Sherwood of Pennsylvania
Rep. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia
Rep. Donald Manzullo of Illinois
Rep. Randy Forbes of Virginia
Rep. J.D. Hayworth of Arizona
Rep. Gresham Barrett of South Carolina
Rep. Joseph Pitts of Pennsylvania
Rep. Phillip Gingrey of Georgia
Rep. David Scott of Georgia
Rep. Steven Chabot of Ohio
Rep. David Weldon of Florida
Rep. Joseph Barton of Texas
Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee
Rep. James DeMint of South Carolina
Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia
Rep. Robert Bishop of Utah
Rep. Robert Aderholt of Alabama
Rep. Robert Goodlatte of Virginia
Rep. Barbara Cubin of Wyoming
Rep. Wally Herger of California
Rep. Howard Coble of North Carolina
Rep. Gilbert Gutknecht of Minnesota
Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use