Annan's work not finished; Iraq war 'worst moment'

Dec 19, 2006, 18:04 GMT

New York - Outgoing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday said he would continue to work on issues of 'great concern' to him after he leaves office on December 31, and placed the war in Iraq at the top of his list of regrets during his 10-year tenure.

'There are many issues which have been of great concern to me over the past 10 years. And I'm not going to drop them because I leave office,' Annan said at his final press conference as the UN's leader in New York.

Asked about the worst moments of his time in the UN's top post, all of Annan's top three related to the US-led war in Iraq and its aftermath, including the 2003 bombing of the UN's headquarters in Baghdad and revelations of mismanagement surrounding the oil-for-food programme, which tarnished the organization's reputation.

'I think the worst moment, of course, was the Iraq war which as an organization we couldn't stop. And I really did everything I can to try to see if we can stop it,' he said.

Former South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-moon takes over as secretary general on New Year's Day. Ban took the oath of office before the UN General Assembly on Thursday.

Annan accused opponents of the UN of 'exploiting' the oil-for-food scandal 'to undermine the organization,' and said there was much more to the UN than its critics gave it credit for.

'I hope the historians will realize that the UN is more than oil- for-food,' Annan said. 'Yes, there was some mismanagement ... But the scandal, if any, was in the capitals and with the 2,200 companies that made a deal with Saddam (Hussein) behind our backs.'

Annan said the crises in the Middle East - the Israeli-Palestinian conflict above all - as well as fighting in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region would top the list of Ban's tasks in 2007, and said he was 'hopeful' that a UN peacekeeping force would be in Darfur in the new year.

Annan on Monday announced he would be sending an envoy to Khartoum to clarify Sudan's position on the UN force. Khartoum has sent mixed signals over past weeks on whether it would accept a so-called hybrid force of UN and African Union peacekeepers.

'I cannot overstate the urgency of the situation, which continues to deteriorate even as we speak,' Annan said Tuesday of Darfur. 'The government of Sudan should know that the world will hold it primarily responsible for the fate of its citizens.'