United Nations ? U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan reversed his decision to fire a key official in the Iraq oil-for-food probe, the United Nations said Tuesday, an embarrassing move as the world body recovers from one of the worst scandals in its history.

Annan’s decision, made known as he traveled in the Middle East, came after an internal U.N. appeals panel exonerated Joseph Stephanides in a ruling disclosed last week. The Joint Disciplinary Committee agreed that he had been made a “sacrificial lamb” by U.N. officials responding to public scrutiny that surrounded revelations of corruption and mismanagement in the $64 billion operation.

The panel had recommended that the 60-year-old Stephanides, who was scheduled to retire in September, be reinstated, issued a written apology, and paid about $200,000 – about two years’ back pay – for the emotional suffering and damage to his reputation.

Annan was not bound by the ruling, and rejected almost all of it.