Swiss launch corruption probe at UN weather body
By Thomas Atkins
Reuters
May 6, 2007
ZURICH, May 6 (Reuters) - A Swiss magistrate has launched a formal investigation into allegations of fraud four years ago in leadership elections at the World Meteorological Organisation, a spokeswoman for the U.N. agency said on Sunday.
Spokeswoman Carine Richard-Van Maele was confirming a report in the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper that Geneva public prosecutor Daniel Zappelli was investigating alleged attempts to use embezzled U.N. funds for influence peddling in a 2003 vote for the post of secretary-general.
"At the request of the Swiss authorities, the (WMO) secretariat has provided them with detailed information relating to election procedures in WMO and to the elections in 2003," she told Reuters.
The probe comes as the 188 member states of the WMO gather in Geneva for a four-yearly congress at which Secretary-General Michel Jarraud of France is standing for a second term.
Jarraud has denied any wrongdoing.
Zappelli was not immediately available to comment on the investigation which is linked to an earlier Swiss probe into allegations of embezzlement, which first came to light in 2003.
"I opened an investigation on Friday based on the suspicion of bribery by foreign officials," Zappelli was quoted as saying in the newspaper.
The probe into the WMO, whose aims include safeguarding the environment and water resources, adds to a series of probes hanging over various United Nations bodies. New U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has pledged to root out corruption.
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Senator Tom Coburn
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2254 Fax: 202-228-3796
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