New Chief of Staff Says Annan Won't Quit
The Associated Press
March 11, 2005
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-UN-Annans-Future.html
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan's new chief of staff rejected new speculation the top U.N. executive might resign, saying Thursday he expected Annan to finish his term and warning that an early departure would be seen as ``a political assassination.''
Mark Malloch Brown said the secretary-general's resignation would be ``a staggering blow to the stature and the independence of the institution'' and would divide U.N. members.
The United Nations and Annan have been under scrutiny for the past year over alleged corruption in the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq, sexual abuse by U.N. peacekeepers in Congo and mismanagement of the world body, which Malloch Brown said is now being addressed.
Several U.S. congressmen have called for Annan's resignation over the oil-for-food allegations. Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker is expected to report later this month on his investigation into the activities of Annan and his son, Kojo, who worked in Africa for a company that had an oil-for-food contract.
Malloch Brown's arrival in mid-January coincided with -- and in some cases sparked -- the departure of top U.N. staff. The new chief of staff also started to clean up what he called some ``egregious'' problems in personnel and auditing practices, such as sexual harassment and whistle-blowing.
His high profile has been welcomed by some staffers but criticized by others who believe their access to the secretary-general has been curtailed and that Malloch Brown -- not Annan -- is now running the United Nations.
In recent weeks, Annan has appeared grim and uneasy. Some diplomats say he also appears preoccupied and detached, leading to new speculation he might quit before his second five-year term ends Dec. 31, 2006.
Malloch Brown said he would not have given up ``a great job'' as head of the United Nations Development Program to become the secretary-general's chief of staff only ``to have a large bulls-eye painted on me for a couple of months.''
``Clearly I am expecting him to finish his term, and I think it would be a catastrophe for the legitimacy of the U.N. if he did not,'' Malloch Brown said. ``It would be viewed as a political assassination if he left and would just completely divide the U.N. membership and be a staggering blow to the stature and the independence of the institution.
``So I think it is absolutely vital that he finish, and that he finish strong,'' leaving a legacy of reform and change at the United Nations, ``and that is what we are going to deliver,'' he said.
World leaders hopefully will agree to those reforms at a summit in September, when they will consider a blueprint put forward by Annan to overhaul the 60-year-old world body so it can better address the threats and challenges of the 21st century.
Malloch Brown defended his own performance, saying ``like it or not, I am the lightning rod.''
``Inevitably, we are just in the phase where people have seen trees coming down, but they haven't seen new trees planted. So I think there is an inevitable sort of lag in expectations,'' he said.
``I think things are where we want them to be,'' he stressed, saying he is focusing on reform and appointments.
Annan has a host of high-level posts open, including Malloch Brown's job at the UNDP; the chief of the U.N. refugee agency after Ruud Lubbers stepped down following sexual harassment allegations he denied; and the head of the U.N. agency dealing with Palestinian refugees.
The head of the U.N. watchdog agency, Dileep Nair, is under investigation over complaints from the U.N. Staff Union and finishes his contract in April.
Malloch Brown said he expect ``people of huge caliber'' leading all these agencies ``and you will see a team which is very, very strong, and you will see more U.N. reform in the short term.''