New York: His report on the Iraqi oil deals have created a political storm in India. But now Paul Volcker?s credibility is being questioned because of a startling revelation.
In an interview to the Los Angeles Times, Paul Volcker stated that he agreed to change the language that referred to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's son Kojo's business dealings.
He said that he had had no idea how much the 18-month probe would expose the vulnerabilities of the world body (UNO) and how close he would come to toppling the Secretary-General.
"It had that potential from the start," Volcker said in an interview to Los Angeles Times. But when he realized that Kofi Annan's job hung on his words, "I felt uncomfortable," he said.
The U.N. Chief and his lawyer asked Volcker to change the language hours before the publication of the draft forward of the report in September.
"It was merely a part of the due process," Volcker was quoted as saying.
Before releasing the September report on Annan, Volcker met with the U.N. Chief and his lawyer to discuss the harsh conclusion.
"The wording we had was that Annan's performance did not meet the standards of the United Nations," Volcker said, adding "And there was more, along the same vein."
Volcker had investigated allegations of corruption in the UN's $64 billion Iraqi oil-for food programme recently.
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