UN-believable

Apparently, the UN's hypocrisy knows no bounds:

The United Nations reinstated the only U.N. official who was fired over the Iraq oil-for-food scandal, after an internal appeals body ruled that he had done nothing wrong, according to a letter made public Tuesday.

The decision was made Monday and Joseph Stephanides, fired May 31, received the letter Tuesday maintaining that he violated staff rules by showing preference to one bidder for an oil-for-food contract but essentially acknowledging the punishment was too harsh.

Stephanides, a 60-year-old Cypriot national, had been scheduled to retire in September and the move gives him his pay up to that point. Deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe confirmed that Stephanides' firing had been overturned and said Undersecretary-General for Management Christopher Burnham signed the letter on behalf of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is at a conference in Tunisia.

The letter, dated Monday, said "the sanction that was imposed on you has been reconsidered in light of all the circumstances in the case and the principle of proportionality."

Only the United Nations could convince itself that the violation of U.N. imposed sanctions and the violation of internationa law is not a punishable offense.