French President Jacques Chirac paid tribute to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Thursday, praising him as a "man of peace, conviction, courage and integrity."

Speaking to an annual New Year's gathering of foreign ambassadors in Paris, Chirac hailed Annan for his "determined and tireless action," qualifying him as "a man of peace, of conviction,of courage and of integrity."

The UN secretary general was accused of alleged corruption in the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq and criticized by some membersof American Congress for the implication of Annan's son in a corruption affair, which is being investigated by former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker.

For Chirac, "in a world seeking stability and solutions to global challenges, the United Nations -- the only global body for regulating international relations -- must continue to reform in line with the principles and goals of its charter."

He called for the next UN summit in September in New York to accomplish the needed reforms.

France backs the enlargement of the Security Council, the creation of a political organ of economic and social governance, as well as a UN organization for environment.

The oil-for-food program was in force from 1996 to 2003 and allowed Iraq to sell oil for food and medicine.

Source: Xinhua