known integrity," Annan said. "I have no doubt that this episode, albeit difficult, will not diminish the achievements of your long and distinguished career with the organization." Annan said the shredding had created a misperception of carelessness about the U.N. administration. Volcker made the accusation against Riza in March, calling the shredding imprudent but not a violation of U.N. rules. But Riza reacted by defending his actions and apologizing to Annan, who has been under intense pressure to step down as a results of the oil-for- food investigation. Volcker's investigation charged Annan with lax oversight in the implementation of the programme, but it cleared him of any wrongdoing in connection with his son, Kojo, and his son's work and payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which was hired by the United Nations to monitor deliveries of relief goods in Iraq. The now-defunct oil-for-food programme used most of the 64 billion dollars in Iraqi oil sales from 1996 to 2003 to feed and provide medicine to 60 per cent of Iraqi families. ---SP 2348 Local Time 2048 GMT
