2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 4, 2005
NATION/WORLD
Oil-for-food head to be punished NEWS IN BRIEF{2
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Secretary-General Kofi
Annan is taking disciplinary action against the head of
the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq following an inves-
tigation of alleged corruption in the humanitarian pro-
gram, a senior U.N. official said yesterday.
The decision came after a report by former Fed-
eral Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, who is lead-
ing the investigation into the program, accused
program chief Benon Sevan of unethical conduct
and Joseph Stephanides of manipulating an oil-for-
food contract, according to Mark Malloch Brown,
Annan's chief of staff.
At the time the contract was awarded, Stephanides
was chief of the U.N. Sanctions Branch and deputy
director of the Security Council Affairs Division in
the U.N. Department of Political Affairs. He now
heads the division. Malloch Brown did not say what
disciplinary steps would be taken but said they would
be announced early next week.
Although Sevan said he never recommended any oil
companies, the investigation led by Volcker concluded
that he repeatedly solicited allocations of oil from Iraq
under the program and "created a grave and continu-
ing conflict of interest."
Volcker also said there was "convincing and uncon-
tested evidence" that the selection of the three U.N. con-
tractors for the oil-for-food program - Banque Nationale
de Paris, Saybolt Eastern Hemisphere BV and Lloyd's
Register Inspection Limited - did not conform to estab-
lished financial and competitive bidding rules.
Sevan denied any wrongdoing, the report said, but
it added that evidence from Iraqi officials contradicted
those denials. However, a summary of the report's find-
ings did not accuse Sevan of any criminal actions.
Volcker's committee said it investigated allega-
tions that Sevan, while executive director of the
oil-for-food program, requested oil allocations
from the Iraqi government on behalf of the African
Middle East Petroleum Co. Ltd. Inc., a Swiss-based
oil trading company known as AMEP.
The committee concluded that Sevan solicited
and received several million barrels of alloca-
tions on behalf of AMEP in 1998-2001. Those
allocations generated $1.5 million in revenues,
the report said.
Those solicitations "presented a grave and continuing
. .-
( '
' ' '''
conflict of interest, were ethically improper, and seri-
ously undermined the integrity of the United Nations,"
the report said.
The report said Sevan "was not forthcoming to
the committee when he denied approaching Iraqi
officials and requesting oil allocations on behalf
of AMEP."
In a separate investigation by U.S. arms inspec-
tor Charles Duelfer, allegations surfaced that Sevan
may have personally profited by receiving vouch-
ers to sell Iraqi oil. According to the Duelfer report
- which got its information from the former Iraqi
oil ministry - Sevan allegedly received vouchers
for 7.3 million barrels of oil through various com-
panies and representatives that he recommended to
Iraqi ministries.
The financial take would have been in the range of
$700,000 to $2 million, depending on oil prices.
The oil-for-food program, launched in December
1996 to help ordinary Iraqis cope with U.N. sanc-
tions imposed after Saddam Hussein's 1990 inva-
sion of Kuwait, quickly became a lifeline for 90
percent of the population.
Israel to release
900 Palestinians
WASH INGTON
Gonzales confirmed attorney general
Alberto Gonzales won Senate confirmation yesterday as attorney general despite
Democratic accusations that he helped formulate White House policies that led to
overseas prisoner abuse and was too beholden to President Bush to be the nation's
top law enforcement official.
The Senate voted 60-36 to put the first Hispanic ever into the job, with all of
the "no" votes coming from Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independent
Jim Jeffords of Vermont. Last week, 12 Democrats and Jeffords voted against
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's confirmation.
Gonzales will replace John Ashcroft, who won more Democratic support four
years ago despite contentious stances on a number of issues. Eight Democrats voted
for Ashcroft, while six voted for Gonzales.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
U.S. may sell fighter aircraft to Pakistan
A senior U.S. defense official said yesterday that Washington is considering an
appeal from Pakistan for F-16 fighter aircraft.
U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith would not say whether the two
sides were close to reaching any deal.
"It is- an important issue, and it will be dealt with at the right time," he told
reporters in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near Islamabad.
Earlier, Feith took part in.a meeting of the Pakistan-U.S. Defense Consultative
Group. Defense Secretary Hamid Nawaz Khan led the Pakistani side in the talks.
Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in its war on terrorism. Washington
recently agreed to sell $1.2 billion in weapons to Pakistan, but the deal doesn't
include the F-16 aircraft that Islamabad has long desired.
Pakistan struck a deal with the United States to buy two dozen fighter jets in
the late 1980s, but the agreement was scrapped in the 1990s when Washington
imposed sanctions on Islamabad over its nuclear weapons program.
BAGHDAD, Iraq
Shiite clergy take lead in election counts
Iraqi officials yesterday released the first partial returns from national elections,
showing a commanding lead by candidates backed by the Shiite Muslim clergy.
Sunni insurgents unleashed a wave of attacks, killing at least 29 people, including
two U.S. Marines and a dozen Iraqi army recruits.
Meanwhile, election officials said strict security measures may have
deprived many Iraqis in the Mosul area and surrounding Ninevah province of
their right to vote. The admission is likely to fuel complaints by Iraq's minor-
ity Sunni Arabs, who make up the heart of the insurgency, that they were not
represented in the vote.
AUSTIN, Texas
Journalists' notes from Watergate now available
While the identity of "Deep Throat" is still a well-guarded secret, the first install-
ment of notes and quotes scribbled by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and
Carl Bernstein while covering the Watergate scandal are now available to the public.
"We told the story from our perspective as well as we could. Other people should
have a look at the stuff," Bernstein said yesterday at the University of Texas's Harry
Ransom Humanities Research Center, which purchasel the materials for $5 mil-
lion in 2003.
Under a deal with the reporters, the Ransom Center is responsible for catalogu-
ing and preparing the documents for public release. They will be made public for
the first time Friday.
*I
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli Cabinet
ministers yesterday approved the release
of 900 Palestinian prisoners and a military
pullout from the West Bank town of Jeri-
cho within days in overtures intended to
improve the climate ahead of next week's
Mideast summit.
The ministers also approved an ear-
lier decision by the army chief to halt the
targeted killings of wanted Palestinian
fugitives and agreed to form a joint Israeli-
Palestinian committee to decide what to
_ 4 do about them.
The 900 prisoners represent about
one-eighth of the total number of
prisoners Israel holds. The decision
to withdraw only from quiet Jericho
falls short of expectations that minis-
ters would approve the evacuation of
five West Bank towns, but followed
x the Israeli government's decision this
week to slow the pullout after a brief
outbreak in violence.
Palestinians and Israelis both said yes-
terday they expect the summit in Egypt
to produce a truce ending more than four
years of violence.
A joint declaration of a cessation of vio-
lence is one of the first requirements in the
AP PHOTO internationally backed "road map" peace
Reigning world champions Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov plan, which calls for the establishment of a
skate at the premiere of the Art on Ie show in Lausanne, Palestinian state this year.
SwItzerland Tuesday. "We are not talking about peace now,
and not about the 'road map,' but rather
an evening of modern dance set to jazz
x -
Choreography by Alexandre
Musical Direction by EllenI
UM School of Music
University Dance Co. &
February 3 at 7:30pm " February 4 & 5 at 8pm " February 6 at 2pm
Tickets $20 and $15 " Students $9 with ID 9 League Ticket Office 9
about phases that come before implemen-
tation of the 'road map,' " participants
quoted Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as
saying at yesterday's meeting.
In his State of the Union address Wednes-
day, President Bush expressed hopes for a
peace agreement and said he would seek
$350 million in aid to the Palestinians.
"The goal of two democratic states,
Israel and Palestine, living side by side in
peace, is within reach, and America will
help them achieve that goal," he said.
Israeli and Palestinian officials wel-
comed the comments. Israeli Foreign
Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the
government was "totally on board" with
Bush's vision.
Maher Masri, the Palestinian trade min-
ister, said: "The trend of the U.S. adminis-
tration is very positive."
. Earlier in the day, both sides sounded
optimistic about truce prospects.
"I hope that a cease-fire will be
declared, a halt to all violent acts," Israeli
Vice Premier Shimon Peres told Israel
Army Radio.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas,
returning to the West Bank after a five-
country trip, said he has already won an
agreement from militants to halt attacks
and expects Israel to respond positively.
"We have announced a cease-fire,
and the Israelis should announce one
also," he said.
Bush
seeks
Soc. Sec.
support
FARGO, N.D. (AP) - Facing stiff
resistance, President Bush began
searching state-by-state for support for
his plan to overhaul Social Security
and conceded yesterday that not all
lawmakers believe the program has a
serious problem.
"The math doesn't work," Bush
insisted, saying Social Security would
pay out more money than it brought in
beginning in 2018. "And in 2042, it's
bust," he said. That's the year in which
the system would be able to cover only
about 73 percent of benefits owed unless
it is changed, according to Social Secu-
rity trustees.
Bush spoke at the Bison Sports Arena
at North Dakota State University, the
first stop on a two-day, five-state trip to
try to build support for diverting some
Social Security revenues into private
investment accounts for younger work-
ers. The initiative would reduce guar-
anteed retirement benefits but create the
possibility of bigger checks from stock
market investments.
"We're not going to play politics with
the issue," Bush said. "We're going to say,
If you've got a good idea, come forth with
your idea.' Because now is the time to put
partisanship aside and focus on saving
Social Security for young workers."
But politics played a part in his trip to
North Dakota and Montana on Thurs-
day and Nebraska, Arkansas and Flor-
ida on Friday. Each state is represented
in the Senate by at least one Democrat
who GOP strategists believe might back
Bush's Social Security makeover plan.
"You take what the president said in
his address last night, he's talking about
more tax cuts, more spending, more
borrowing for private accounts," Kent
Conrad, (D-N.D.) said in a telephone
interview "It doesnt add 11)."
MARKET UPDATE
THUR. CLOSE CHANGE
DOW JONES 10,593.10 -3.69
NASDAQ 2,057.64 -17.42
S&P 500 19189-89 -3.30
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we both have left
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