Kofi Annan declines to submit his finances to UN

United Nations, Sep 15: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has declined to submit personal financial disclosure forms despite urgings by top aides he do so at a time the world body is undergoing reforms, UN officials said.

Technically, Annan is not considered a staff member and does not have to fill out the new forms, initiated last year to tighten staff rules, including the receipt of gifts over 250 dollars.

But his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, had announced earlier the UN chief would be the first to fill out the forms.

At a news conference yesterday, Annan, who leaves office on December 31, told reporters, ''I honor all my obligations to the UN, and I think that is as I've always done.'' A UN official told Reuters afterward that Annan's comments meant he had not filled out the disclosure forms.

Another senior UN official disclosed that several of Annan's advisers, including Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown and Christopher Burnham, the undersecretary-general for management, were urging him to do so as a symbol of the organisation. The forms would not be made public.

At a news conference yesterday, Burnham, the American in charge of the organization's finances and an originator of the forms, refused to comment on Annan's decision.

But he said, ''I believe that we all should fill out annual financial reports and I encourage everyone to do so in a timely fashion.'' Burnham was questioned by reporters after he released a report that compiled the past year's UN financial information in one volume in nonbureaucratic language.

Annan last year accepted a 500,000 dollars environmental prize, sponsored by the United Arab Emirates, despite criticism it could be seen as a gift. He had wanted to use the fund for a new foundation in Africa but later donated the money to UN humanitarian assistance in Darfur.

Some UN officials and diplomats said Annan's decision to accept the award was politically unwise when the world body was recovering from charges of corruption in the 64 billion dollars oil-for-food humanitarian program for Iraq and when he himself was in the forefront of initiating reforms.

In one response to the scandal, the new disclosure rules require UN officials to report gifts amounting to more than 250 dollars. Officials previously were not required to report gifts under 10,000 dollars.

Reuters