Oil-for-Food Head Resigns

By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 8, 2005; Page A12

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 7 -- The former director of the United Nations' $64 billion oil-for-food program resigned Sunday, accusing Secretary General Kofi Annan of scapegoating him to save his own political future.

Benon Sevan, who has been serving on a $1-a-year contract, issued his announcement the day before a U.N.-appointed inquiry is scheduled to release a report accusing him of accepting cash bribes from an Egyptian oil dealer who traded with Iraq through the U.N.'s largest humanitarian program.