UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday that 2004 is a difficult year for the world body, but he is confident with support of member states to carry on his works.

Year 2004 is "no doubt a difficult year," Annan told reporters at the annual year-end news briefing in New York.

"There has been a lot of criticisms, serious criticisms and we are taking them seriously," he said, adding that the alleged corruption of the "oil-for-food" program in Iraq has cast a dark shadow on the world body.

"We are trying to do everything we can to try to get the bottomof this," he noted.

Annan said that he had quite a lot of work to do, and with the support of many member states, he is optimistic to carry on his job as the UN chief.

Source: Xinhua