Annan’s Son Speaks
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.
Almost 60 congressmen and three senators have called for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to resign. But to Mr. Annan’s son, Kojo, 31, it’s just partisan persecution.
In a statement released to CNN Monday, the younger Mr. Annan said: “I feel the whole issue has been a witch hunt from day one as part of a broader Republican political agenda.”
CNN reported that the statement came in response to several requests to get Kojo Annan before a camera, which he refused.
The secretary-general’s son worked for Cotecna Inspection Services SA, a Swiss-based company that, from 1998 to 2003, monitored goods arriving in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq under the U.N. oil-for-food program. The younger Mr. Annan, The New York Sun reported, received payments totaling almost $150,000 from Cotecna through February of this year, even though he stopped working for the company in 1998.
CNN reported that Mr. Annan denied any involvement in Cotecna’s Iraq dealings. He said in the statement: “I have never participated directly or indirectly in any business related to the United Nations.”
The elder Mr. Annan has been in contact with his son, who is cooperating in the investigations into his conduct and the oil-for-food program, according to CNN. The network reported that Kojo said he believes the American investigations are just using him to target his father politically.
“The rest of the world has shown their unwavering support for my father. What will the U.S. senators have to say if there is, as many over here in the rest of the world suspect, no substance to the allegations against my father and me?” Mr. Annan said in his statement.
