Cyprus unlikely to extradite oil-for-food official

Wed Aug 10, 2005 9:54 AM ET

By Michele Kambas

NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cyprus is unlikely to extradite the Cypriot former
head of the U.N. oil-for-food program to face allegations of receiving
bribes, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Benon Sevan, a Cypriot of Armenian descent known to be in Cyprus as
recently as last Saturday, was accused by U.N. investigators of
receiving nearly $150,000 in kickbacks for oil allocations under the
program he headed from 1997 to 2003.

Sevan has strongly denied any wrongdoing.

It was not immediately clear whether the former diplomat, who waived
his diplomatic immunity by resigning from the U.N last weekend, would
voluntarily return to the United States if criminal charges were
brought against him.

“I am not even aware of him being here,” Cypriot Foreign Minister
George Iacovou told Reuters.

However, asked how authorities would respond to any request, another
official replied: “There is a constitutional prohibition on
extraditing one of our nationals to another jurisdiction.”

If a formal extradition request was filed, a court could cite the
constitution to block it, he said.

A U.N. inquiry committee, headed by former U.S. Federal Reserve
chairman Paul Volcker, recommended that Sevan, who ran the $67 billion
humanitarian program for Iraq, and Alexander Yakovlev, a former
U.N. purchasing officer, should be prosecuted.

The report is the first to accuse U.N. officials of outright
corruption in connection with the program.

It accused Sevan of getting kickbacks after receiving oil allocations
on behalf of a trading company run by a relative of former
U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Sevan, 67, issued a statement last weekend saying he had been made a
scapegoat.

He said the sum represented remittances from an elderly aunt who
raised him in Cyprus. The woman died last year. However, the report
said the windfall coincided with debt obligations on the part of
Sevan, stung by losses on the stock market and the costs of running
two residences.Sevan keeps a low profile when visiting his native
Cyprus, where Armenians represent less than five percent of the
population.”I have known him for such a long time. I refuse to believe
that he would jeopardize 40 years of service for $150,000,” said a
friend. “He wouldn’t be involved in such dirty business.”