The U.S. business newspaper The Wall Street Journal says a United Nations study of problems with the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq will criticize Secretary-General Kofi Annan for a series of management lapses, among them conflicts of interest involving Mr. Annan's son, Kojo.
An investigative panel headed by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker is expected to criticize Mr. Annan for failing to take action to correct flaws in the U.N. bureaucracy that allowed problems to develop in the $40 billion oil-for-food program.
The Wall Street Journal says the U.N. report will find that Mr. Annan held at least four meetings with Cotecna, a Swiss company that held lucrative United Nations contracts and also employed Mr. Annan's son, Kojo.
The new report, the second of three to be issued by the Volcker commission this year, is due to be made public on Tuesday.