Annan probe into son 'inadequate,' panel finds

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan carried out an "inadequate" enquiry into possible conflict of interest over his son's employment by a Swiss firm with an oil-for-food contract, an investigative panel said on Tuesday.
It is "unlikely" the contract of Cotecna, hired by the UN programme to verify the shipment of goods into Iraq, would have been renewed if Annan had conducted a thorough investigation, it said.
But the report from a commission headed by former US federal reserve banking chief Paul Volcker, said there was no evidence that Annan used "affirmative or improper influence" in the awarding of the contract.

03/29/2005 16:55 GMT