UNITED NATIONS, April 16 (Xinhuanet) -- The United Nations has established a three-member panel to investigate alleged corruptionin the now-defunct UN-run Iraqi oil-for-food program, a UN spokesperson said Friday.

    The panel will be headed by Paul Volcker, former US Federal Reserve chairman, said spokesperson Marie Okabe. The other two members are South African judge Richard Goldstone and Swiss lawyerMark Pieth.

    Okabe said the panel had requested the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution to authorize the investigation. "They have indicated that a Security Council resolution would be extremely helpful for the work of the inquiry," she said.

    She noted that the establishment of the panel will be formally announced after the adoption of the resolution.

    The oil-for-food program, which started in December 1996, allowed Iraq to export oil to buy humanitarian supplies and pay reparations to victims of the 1991 Gulf War.

    The corruption rumors started to float in January when the Iraqi newspaper Al-Mada published a list of about 270 prominent figures from more than 46 countries, saying they received oil money from Saddam Hussein's regime.

    The report said the Saddam regime tried to bribe these foreigners for support. The list purportedly includes Benon Sevan,who is in charge of the oil-for-food program, but Sevan categorically denied the allegation.

    The UN Secretariat has sent two letters to the Iraqi Governing Council and the US-led coalition requesting evidence of allegations of corruption in the program, but so far no evidence has been received.

    UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has promised to launch an independent and thorough probe into the sandal. Enditem