WASHINGTON (AP) – US officials knew of problems in the UN oil-for-food program but were concerned international support for Iraqi sanctions could crumble if they insisted on stricter rules, a US diplomat told the Senate yesterday.

Patrick Kennedy, deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said the main goal of the United States was to preserve the sanctions, even if they were flawed.

“If we couldn’t have a solid wall, then we wanted a screen,” Kennedy told the Senate Governmental Affairs investigations subcommittee, one of several congressional panels examining the program.

The program, created as an exception to UN sanctions, allowed Iraq to sell oil and use proceeds to buy humanitarian items. Investigations have found that Saddam manipulated the program to obtain illegal revenues and try to influence world leaders.

At yesterday’s hearing, subcommittee Chairman Norm Coleman released documents he said point to greater evidence of corruption by the program’s former director, Benon Sevan, who already faces UN disciplinary charges. Sevan has denied wrongdoing.

Coleman said other documents show that an inspector for a UN contractor took bribes. Others raise questions about the role of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s son, Kojo Annan, who worked for another UN contractor, he said.

The oil-for-food scandal has prompted Coleman and other US lawmakers to call for Kofi Annan’s resignation. Some say it reflects broader problems of UN mismanagement and raises questions about its ability to administer sanctions at a time when they may have to be considered for other nations, such as Iran and North Korea.