New York Times silent on Annan’s Mercedes anger outburst but others report it.

A Mercedes-Benz purchased in U. N. secretary-general Kofi Annan’s name has disappeared in his native Ghana. It was imported there after Annan received on the purchase a large tax break given to diplomats. Annan’s son, Kojo, was involved in the purchase as was an executive for a Swiss company that employed Kojo. Kojo, the executive, and the company are all caught up in the U. N. oil for food scandal.

During the past four months a few dogged reporters, including the London Times’ James Bone, have asked questions about how the vehicle was actually paid for, its intended owner, and why it can’t be found.

At a recent news conference, Annan refused to answer questions about the Mercedes and lashed out at Bone.

But the New York Times, in its story of the press conference, never mentions Annan's Mercedes. And here’s all it tells readers about Annan’s outburst:

Mr. Annan later refused to respond to a question by James Bone of The Times of London after Mr. Bone said, "Some of your own stories, your own version of events, don't really make sense." Interrupting, Mr. Annan accused Mr. Bone of being "cheeky" and said he was "behaving like an overgrown schoolboy."

Now take a look at what The New York Sun tells its readers:

CNN's Richard Roth asked a recurring question about the whereabouts of a Mercedes-Benz that was bought in Mr. Annan's name by the secretary general's son, Kojo.

The son's childhood friend, Michael Wilson, who is an executive at the Swiss-based Cotecna company, which employed the two, and the secretary-general himself contributed to the car's purchase, and Mr. Annan has been unable to say where the car is now.

"You are all obsessed about the car," Mr. Annan said, but refused to add any information beyond: "Please direct your questions to his lawyers or to him."

"I am neither his spokesman nor his lawyer," he said, speaking of his son.

Later, Mr. Annan finally lost his cool when Mr. Bone began a question by following up on Mr. Roth's inquiry about the car.

"Hold on, listen, James Bone," Mr. Annan said. "You have been behaving like an overgrown schoolboy in this room for many, many months and years. You are an embarrassment to your colleagues and to your profession. Please stop misbehaving, and please let's move on to a more serious subject."

(Annan) then refused to allow the reporter to get to his question, which was left unasked. Mr. Bone later told the Sun that he wanted to ask a detailed question about inconsistencies in Mr. Annan's testimony before the Volcker commission.

Why, in its press conference story, did the NY Times decide to make no mention of questions concerning the Mercedes, Kojo, Cotecna, and Annan’s Volcker commission testimony ? Surely they involve news fit to print.

For its part, The London Times began its report of Annan’s news conference:

THE UN Secretary-General has used his end-of-year press conference to lash out at the media in general, and The Times in particular, for their coverage of the Oil-for-Food scandal and his role in it.

Kofi Annan singled out James Bone, New York correspondent of The Times, after he questioned Mr. Annan about a Mercedes jeep that his son, Kojo, imported into Ghana using his father’s diplomatic immunity to avoid taxes.

Saddam Hussein’s manipulation of the UN’s $64 billion Oil-for-Food programme enabled him to circumvent international sanctions and raise hundreds of millions dollars, through kickbacks on UN-supervised sales of oil and imports of humanitarian supplies. Kojo Annan worked for a Swiss firm, Cotecna, that won a lucrative UN contract to monitor those imports.

You can read the rest of the London Times’ story here.

The full New York Times story is here ; the New York Sun story is here.