WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (AFP) - The son of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he will be found innocent of wrongdoing and denounced a Republican "witchhunt" against his father over allegations of UN corruption, CNN reported on Tuesday.
The network said it had received a written statement from Kojo Annan -- his first public comment on the brewing scandal over the supervision of oil sales by Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq that has damaged the United Nations' image.
"The whole issue has been a witchhunt from day one as part of a broader Republican political agenda," it quoted him saying. "I have never participated directly or indirectly in any business related to the United Nations."
Kojo Annan had been employed by Cotecna, a Swiss firm that had a contract under the UN's now defunct oil-for-food programme, which is being investigated by US lawmakers and prosecutors.
Under the 64-billion-dollar scheme, which ran from 1996 to 2003, the United Nations monitored the sale of Iraqi oil to ensure that revenues were used for the purchase of food, medicine and other essential humanitarian supplies.
Kojo has not spoken with US congressional investigators, who believe Saddam skimmed billions of dollars out of the programme.
But the younger Annan said he had spent "countless hours" being questioned by a separate enquiry that was appointed by his father, CNN reported.
Several US politicians have called for Annan to step down as UN chief after a Republican senator leading the US congressional probe said there was evidence the UN official who ran oil-for-food got payoffs from Saddam.
There has also been speculation that Cotecna was awarded its contract to monitor shipments under the programme because of the connection with Kojo Annan, who lives in Nigeria. CNN said he had denied the claim.
"What will the US senators have to say if there is, as many over here and in the rest of the world suspect, no substance to the allegations against my father and me?" the network quoted him as saying.
It added that he had indicated he was sorry for the distress he had brought on his father and that he was confident he would be found "innocent of any wrongdoing."
Faced with heavy criticism over the allegations, Kofi Annan recently claimed he was "disappointed" to learn that his son was still being paid by Cotecna as late as February 2004 -- years after leaving the firm.
12/14/2004 19:20 GMT - AFP