UNITED NATIONS, Dec 8: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan rejected calls for his resignation from several American lawmakers, and declared on Tuesday he would continue to be at the helm of the United Nations for the next two years.

Mr Annan told reporters that he planned to concentrate on reform of the United Nations in the last two years of his term, a process that began last week with the release of a report by a high-level panel that analyzed global threats in the 21st century and made 101 recommendations on how to tackle them.

"I have quite a lot of work to do and I'm carrying on with my work, Mr Annan said when asked when he would respond to those calling for his resignation.

Five Republican members of the US House of Representatives on Monday backed a republican senator's call for Mr Annan to resign amid allegations of corruption in the UN oil-for-food programme.