Secretary-General's press encounter

SG: Well, I have also been following the press reports on this.

But let me say two things. First, naturally I have warm, family relations with my son, but he is in a different field. He is an independent business man. He is a grown man, and I don't get involved with his activities and he doesn't get involved in mine.

And also, as I have stated earlier, I have no involvement with granting of contracts, either on this Cotecna one, or others. And I would also suggest that if you have any questions about his business activities one should direct it to him or the company concerned. In the meantime, I would urge us all to be patient until Mr. Volcker completes his work.

Q: What was your reaction when you learned that the non-compete payments continued through this year to your son? Were you surprised?

SG: I had been working on the understanding that it ceased in 1998 and I had not expected that the relationship continued.

Q: Do you understand the perception problem for the UN?

SG: Absolutely. I understand the perception problem for the UN, or the perception of conflict of interests and wrongdoing. I can understand that.

Q: Did you get in touch with your son upon hearing this? What did you say to him? What did he say back?

SG: I did talk to him, but I really don't want to get into this. I did talk to my son about it.

Q: Are you disappointed? Are you angry with him for putting something away for four years?

SG: Naturally I was very disappointed and surprised, yes.

Q: Sir, how will this affect you personally? This has become something of a personal battle between you and some of the press and some lawmakers. How does it relate to your continuing on as Secretary-General, your agenda here at the United Nations, and how difficult does it make these tasks?

SG: We have very serious work to do in the coming year, the years ahead, and I would want to focus on that. Obviously in this climate and with this oil-for-food discussions, it is not going to be easy. It wasn't going to be easy anyway. It is going to be much more difficult, but we do have work to do and I hope that the Member States and governments concerned will see the value in focusing on the reform and the development issues that will be…

Q: Mr. Annan, you just said now that there is a new chance for peace maybe around the corner. You were just in Sharm el Sheikh. What makes you very optimistic? What you heard from the Quartet meeting that makes you so optimistic about a new chance for peace?

SG: My sense is that all the parties, particularly the members of the Quartet, are determined to put much more energy into the peace process. We also hope that the parties themselves are ready to reengage, and reengage in a sustained manner. So the signs are good. I am also very happy with the way the Palestinian people have managed the transition and I wish them very successful elections on the 9th of January, and once that is done I hope the new leader and the Israeli Prime Minister and all the international community will work very hard for peace in that region.