U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has rescinded the dismissal of an employee found to have violated procurement rules in the defunct oil-for-food programme in Iraq, U.N. officials said Tuesday according to dpa. The employee, Joseph Stephanides, was fired in May four months short of retirement after an inquiry into the oil-for-food programme revealed that he participated in its bidding process. The inquiry was headed by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker. A disciplinary committee of the U.N. staff union, in the meantime, found that the dismissal was disproportionate to the charges against Stephanides, who had an unblemished 25-year record as a U.N. employee. He worked in the office of the U.N. Security Council and apparently used his influence in the bidding process. A U.N. official who spoke on background said Annan decided to reinstate Stephanides, but still maintains that the employee violated procurement rules. Stephanides was reinstated so he can draw his pension. Stephanides was fired at a time the Volcker inquiry revealed corruption and mismanagement of the oil-for-food programme, making headlines that blemished the U.N.'s reputation. --More 2259 Local Time 1959 GMT
