Annan oil contract meeting denied News
Annan oil contract meeting denied

[JURIST] Executive Michael R. Wilson joined UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday in denying that the two had met and discussed an oil contract as suggested in company memo [JURIST report] made public earlier this week. The memo said "We had brief discussions with the SG and his entourage. Their collective advice was that we should respond as best we could to the Q&A session of the 1-12-98 and that we could count on their support". Wilson formerly worked with Annan's son Kojo at Cotecna [corporate website, press release PDF about oil-for-food]. Annan has denied recent claims [RTE News report] that he was aware that his son's company was in line for a contract, and he was was cleared of any wrongdoing in March [UN press release] in the scandal surrounding the now-defunct UN Oil-for-Food program. Annan said he has "no recollection" of a meeting with Wilson and in his statement Wednesday Wilson said he "never met or had any discussion with" Annan. AP has more.