Today's Date:

Statements made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson.

Paris,March 30, 2005

France has read the new interim report by the independent commission of inquiry chaired by Mr. Volcker. France pays tribute to the approach for transparency and truth to which Mr. Annan resolutely committed himself in establishing this commission, with the unanimous support of the Security Council. We have noted that the report clearly excludes any irregularities on the part of the secretary-general.

We reaffirm our full support for the secretary-general and our willingness to work with him to confront the many challenges that the Organization must take up, specifically its reform, in the best possible conditions.

Pending the conclusion of the Commission’s work, we have full confidence in the capacity of the Organization to draw the appropriate consequences from this new report as it did for the earlier ones. We also await the rest of the work by the Commission to draw the lessons from the management of this program that was unprecedented in terms of its size, political importance and financial issues.

Q – The Volcker report on the oil-for-food program emphasizes that Kofi Annan did not take every precaution to avoid conflicts of interest, particularly regarding the activities of his son, Kojo. Do you think that Mr. Annan has been completely cleared in this matter?

With regard to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, I note that the Commission indicated that it was continuing its investigation on this question. We will wait for the final report before making any comment.