UN chief Kofi Annan said Wednesday that he assumed responsibility for serious management lapses in the oil-for-food programme for Iraq, but the head of an independent probe into the scandal said member states and the Security Council must share the blame.
"The report is critical of me personally, and I accept its criticism," Annan told the Security Council shortly after receiving an 860-page report from former US Federal Reserve Board chairman Paul Volcker, who led an 18-month investigation into the now-defunct programme. "As chief administrative officer, I have to take responsibility for the failings revealed," Annan said.
Earlier, Volcker, noting that his mission was to look for administration failings and evidence of corruption in the 100-billion-dollar programme, told the council: "Unhappily, we found both."
In answer to a reporter's question, Annan ruled out resigning over the findings that further tarnish the world body, a week before the UN chief is to host a summit of world leaders who will consider sweeping UN reforms.
"I don't anticipate anyone to resign," Annan, whose second term as secretary general runs until the end of 2006, told reporters. "We are carrying on with our work."
And Volcker made it clear that member states and the Security Council must share the blame. "The responsibility for the failures must be broadly shared, starting, we believe, with member states and the Security Council itself," he noted.
He said the scandal underscored the need for urgent UN reform to restore the credibility and confidence of the world body, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
"We urge you and the General Assembly to set firm benchmarks for progress," Volcker told the council. "Quite specifically, action should be taken by the time the General Assembly completes its meetings in 2006. The opportunity for reform should not be lost."
The UN chief also conceded that he was "not diligent or effective enough" in pursuing a probe after he learned that the Swiss company Cotecna that employed his son Kojo had won a large contract under the oil-for-food programme.
"I deeply regret that," he said. The Volcker panel said "the evidence is not reasonably sufficient to conclude that the secretary general knew that Cotecna had submitted a bid on the humanitarian inspection contract in 1998."
Many of the key points of the Volcker report were summarised in a preview released Tuesday, including a reference to "serious instances of illicit, unethical and corrupt behaviour within the United Nations" that had been allowed to flourish because of poor administration.
"The evidence of actual corruption among a small number of UN staff is also profoundly disappointing for all of us who work in the organisation," Annan said, conceding that the management of the programme was marked "by weak administrative practices and inadequate control and auditing."
"The inquiry's findings underscore the vital importance of proposed management reforms, many of which are at this very moment being negotiated among member states in the General Assembly," he added.
But Volcker also said that the programme was successful in averting "the clear and present danger of malnutrition and a further collapsed of medical services" in Iraq.
Reacting to the release of the report, the fourth and the most detailed so far, US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said: "Identifying those who failed to execute their responsibilities is a necessary part of the process. Prosecuting wrongdoers is equally necessary."
"This report unambiguously rejects the notion that 'business as usual' at the UN is acceptable," he told the council. "We need to reform the UN in a manner that will prevent another oil-for-food scandal."
Annan's critics, particularly in the US Congress, will see the conclusions as further ammunition in their drive to force the UN chief to resign.
Several US congressional committees are probing the scandal, and some Republican lawmakers have threatened a cut in US dues to the world body if it does not fully cooperate with the investigations.
Republican Senator Norm Coleman late Tuesday called for Annan to resign and for the United Nations to prove its willingness to reform.
The oil-for-food programme - which ran from 1996 to 2003, when US-led forces invaded Iraq to oust President Saddam Hussein - allowed Baghdad to sell oil to raise money for humanitarian goods the country lacked due to sanctions.
Last month, the Volcker panel accused the former head of the oil-for-food programme, Benon Sevan of Cyprus, of receiving nearly 150,000 dollars from oil sales kickbacks. Sevan, who fled to Cyprus in June, denied the charges and accused Annan of "sacrificing" him.
It also charged Alexander Yakovlev, a Russian former UN procurement officer, with accepting bribes.
Volcker was appointed by Annan in April last year to probe allegations that senior UN officials had improperly benefited from the programme.