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Iraqi paper defends Annan over resignations

BAGHDAD: A leading Iraqi newspaper on Sunday defended U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan against charges by Iraqi officials and media that he was to blame for the resignation of two senior U.N. officials.

Hans von Sponeck, who ran the U.N. oil for food programme in Iraq, and Jutta Burghardt, head of the World Food Programme in Iraq, stepped down recently saying the oil-for-food programme had failed to meet the needs of Iraq's 22 million people.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said last week that Annan bore personal responsibility for the deterioration of the oil-for-food programme, which allows Iraq to export oil to buy food and medicine for its people under U.N. close supervision.

"The statements attacking the United Nations Secretary- General Kofi Annan are baseless and unjustifiable," Babel, the newspaper of President Saddam Hussein's eldest son Uday, said in a front-page editorial.

Al-Thawra, the newspaper of the ruling Baath party, also accused Annan of being so weak that he could not prevent the resignation of the two officials.

"What is the benefit of attacking Annan at this particular time?," Babel asked. "We should not throw stones at others in such quick and unstudied manner," it added.

Babel said Annan "is much better than his predecessor who is an Arab," a clear reference to former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt.

"During his (Boutros-Ghali's) reign Iraq was subjected to more than one aggression but he never visited Iraq", it said, adding that Annan averted a military operation against Iraq in 1998 when he struck a deal with Iraq on arms inspections.

Babel predicted that the sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait would be lifted. "The solution is coming...as matters are heading toward a detente."

Meantime, al-Thawra invited Democratic and Republican members of the U.S. Congress who had called on the U.N. and the Clinton administration to lift sanctions, to visit Iraq.

"If these American personalities want to visit Baghdad to see the reality, they would find its door open wide for them," it said.-Reuters