UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said here Wednesday that he took responsibility for the failing revealed both in the implementation of the oil-for-food program and said the world body would learn hard lessons from the investigation.

    Annan said he accepted then, and still accept, the conclusion that he was not diligent or effective enough in pursuing an investigation when he learned the company which employed his son had won the humanitarian inspection contract.

    He said that the sole purpose of initiating independent investigation into the scandal is to uncover the truth. "I was convinced that only by revealing the full truth, however painful, could the United Nations regain its credibility, and establish what changes were needed."

    The UN chief noted that the truth as revealed in the successive interim reports of the inquiry and in the full report released today is painful for everyone in the United Nations, but he said the world organization should be grateful to Volcker and his colleagues for the work they have done.

    "I have no doubt at all that this Organization will benefit from it," he said.

    Annan noted that the Committee concluded he did not influence or try to influence the bid process of the procurement process. "Iam glad to note that this conclusion is reaffirmed," he said.

    Annan said he was glad to see the two essential points made in the report. The first point is that the UN oil-for-food program did succeed in restoring and maintaining minimal standards of nutrition and health in Iraq while helping to maintain international effort to prevent Saddam Hussein from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

    The other is the fact that "the wholesale corruption within the program took place among private companies, manipulated by Saddam Hussein's government."

    The UN chief said there are hard lessons for all to learn. These are lessons about the importance of accountability and particularly of having clear lines of responsibility and reporting. They are lessons about oversight, particularly about the need for mechanisms to ensure that someone takes prompt action to repair the deficiencies once they are revealed, he said.

    Above all, they are lessons about the need for the United Nations to maintain the highest possible standards of integrity, and of effective performance, Annan said. Enditem