The Annan Papers

May 14 - Kofi Annan was not entirely forthcoming with investigator Robert Parton about his contacts with Cotecna. Seems he didn't disclose meeting Pierre Mouselli or having lunch with him.

Annan's account would change as facts emerged, which set off alarm bells for Robert Parton:

In his first of four interviews with investigators, Annan did not disclose last November he met in September 1998 with his son Kojo and Cotecna consultant Pierre Mouselli - and then, two weeks later, with Cotecna's chief executive Eli Massey - as the company was gearing up to bid for business under the oil-for-food program.

Annan generally acknowledged in the first interview he knew Massey - referring to him as "the old man" - and occasionally met with him, including once in 1999, several months after Cotecna won the UN contract.

In a subsequent interview in January after consulting the calendars that were turned over to Parton, Annan divulged he met twice with Massey before the Cotecna contract was awarded, including Sept. 18, 1998.

But the UN chief testified the meeting did not involve Cotecna's pursuit of oil-for-food business. Instead, he said, the two discussed an idea Massey had for an international lottery to raise money for the UN; Annan said he referred Massey to another official to discuss the idea further.

The UN chief also indicated he didn't recall a man named Pierre Mouselli, though he said he often doesn't recall people he meets casually in his high-profile job. The final report makes no mention of Annan's November denial about Mouselli.

During a March 17 interview, Annan was quizzed about a calendar entry indicating he had a "private lunch" Sept. 4, 1998, with his son Kojo and "his friend" during a world conference in Durban, South Africa.

By that time, Parton had already learned the friend was Mouselli, a businessman who, like Kojo Annan, was working as a consultant with Cotecna.

Parton also secured testimony from Mouselli stating he and the Annans had discussed at the South African lunch that Kojo Annan and Mouselli were setting up companies and were interested in business, including Iraq. The final report said Mouselli's account of the meeting couldn't be verified elsewhere.

There is a point at which "plausible deniability" turns into "cover up."

The final report also excluded detailed testimony from Mouselli that he and the Annans discussed their interest in Iraq business.

"We discussed Iraq," Mouselli said in an interview this week.

"We discussed about even my way to go to Iraq...We were joking if Kojo wants to come."

The link is a Canadian news source, which is good (and much too rare.)

Posted by: Debbye at 08:27 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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