Tuesday, June 14 2005 16:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: A newly discovered memo regarding Iraq's oil-for-food programme may spell fresh trouble for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, as it raises questions about his role in awarding contracts for the controversial project.

A memo written by someone who was then an executive of a major contractor in the UN oil-for-food programme said that he briefly discussed the company's effort to win the contract in late 1998 with Annan and his "entourage" and that the executive was told that "we could count on their support."

The secretary general's son, Kojo Annan, was employed by Cotecna Inspection Services, a Swiss contractor based in Geneva, and the nature of that relationship is among the issues being investigated by a panel appointed by the world body and several Congressional committees, a media report said.

Kofi Annan has said several times that he did not discuss the contract with his son and was not involved in Cotecna's selection.

A United Nations panel headed by Paul A. Volcker, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve, concluded in March that Annan had not influenced the awarding of the $10 million a year contract to the company.

The 'New York Times' quoted a consultant for the company, who is familiar with its role in the oil-for-food programme, as saying that Cotecna yesterday (Jun 13, 2005) provided copies of the e-mail messages and other documents that were recently discovered in company files to investigators of three Congressional committees.

The committees have been looking into fraud and abuses in the $65 billion programme.