UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is stuck in the scandal around the Iraqi oil-for-food program. Mr. Annan, though, denies all the accusations.

"After so many distressing and untrue allegations have been made against me, this exoneration by the independent inquiry obviously comes as a great relief," said Annan. "You deal with the problem and you draw the lessons and move on. I have lots of work to do, and I’m going to go ahead and do it now," he added pointing at his refusal to step down as the UN’s chief, at least for now.

The investigation conducted by former U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker lacked evidence to prove Annan’s impropriety. "Based on the record and lack of evidence of impropriety, it is the finding of the committee that Cotecna was awarded the contract in 1998 on the ground that it was the lowest bidder," was said in a statement released by the committee headed by Mr. Volcker.

Cotecna Inspection, a company involved in the scandal, said the 1998 contract was taken by the company “fairly.” "The committee’s report demonstrates clearly what we have been saying all along, that we were awarded this contract fairly, based on the merit of our proposal and on our worldwide leadership position in inspection services," Cotecna CEO Robert Massey said.