The UN-appointed inquiry into corruption in the oil-for-food programme is expected on Tuesday to fault Kofi Annan for failing to spot an apparent conflict of interest, when the UN hired an inspection company that employed his son Kojo Annan to oversee Iraqi goods imports.

Back in 1991, there were high hopes for Kojo Annan, the athletic son of a relatively obscure international civil servant named Kofi Annan, then in charge of the United Nations' budget and finances.