U.N. 'Housecleaning' Will Rage On
BY BENNY AVNI - Special to the Sun
February 23, 2005

UNITED NATIONS - A letter sent to Secretary-General Annan by representatives of the United Nations staff union may set up the next firing of a top Turtle Bay figure, following a weekend that brought the housecleaning under the new chief of staff, Mark Malloch Brown, to new heights.
The confidential staff union letter, dated February 17, marked a new round in a battle to investigate allegations of abuse of power by Undersecretary-General Dileep Nair, who heads the U.N. internal investigative arm, the Office of Internal Oversight Services.
Ironically, it was a leak last week of a months-old classified report on sexual harassment by the OIOS that led to the high-profile departure this weekend of the U.N.'s high commissioner for refugees, Ruud Lubbers. Mr. Lubbers' s forced resignation was universally seen at the U.N. as an attempt by Mr. Malloch Brown to pre-empt criticism of the organization.
The letter regarding Mr. Nair, who has been accused by some staffers of sexual harassment in the past, consisted of five separate new allegations, according to two sources who have read parts of it to The New York Sun. The five allegations were described by one source as merely technical. But another said they regarded serious hiring, promotions, recruitment, and discipline issues in Mr. Nair's office.
One U.N. diplomat said that in addition to the accusations against Mr. Nair that were detailed in Thursday's staff letter, new allegations regarding the mishandling of several OIOS investigations, including into the oil-for-food scandal, sexual abuse committed by U.N. peacekeepers in Congo, and several reports by whistleblowers on U.N. procurement issues, are expected to bring a new round of negative press reports.
Following the way Mr. Lubbers was let go over the weekend, the diplomat predicted Mr. Malloch Brown would either force Mr. Nair to resign or fire him outright even before the scheduled end of Mr. Nair's tenure at OIOS in the end of April. Mr. Malloch Brown has to act before these new scandals blow in his face, said the diplomat, citing Mr. Lubbers's departure as an example that Mr. Malloch Brown is capable of acting decisively to stem brewing scandals.
Mr. Lubbers has consistently denied any wrongdoing, including in a strange press encounter on Friday in which he re-enacted on a male reporter the gesture that led to the abuse allegation by one of his female staffers.
All the reports have turned out to be hot air, he said yesterday in a phone interview with the television program Netwerk, according to the Associated Press. Pressure from the ongoing press messages is continuing, the people that bring them out are continuing, and it's becoming too much, he added.
Mr. Malloch Brown, a Briton who was brought in to replace Mr. Annan's longtime Pakistani confidant Iqbal Riza as chief of staff largely because of his perceived independence and ability to make radical changes that Mr. Annan himself was incapable of, was seen as the force behind Mr. Lubbers's resignation.
Last summer, when Mr. Annan received the confidential OIOS sexual harassment report regarding Mr. Lubbers, he refused to fire him. But in a meeting last Friday, after the report was leaked to the British newspaper The Independent, Mr. Malloch Brown, with Mr. Annan at his side, told Mr. Lubbers he had to go.
Last year, the staff union voted on a no confidence motion in Mr. Annan's senior management team, citing the quick dismissal of the staff allegations against Mr. Lubbers and Mr. Nair. While the allegations against Mr. Lubbers were at least investigated by the OIOS, the probe of Mr. Nair was described by staffers as a whitewash.
Since then, Mr. Malloch Brown replaced Mr. Riza and quickly proceeded to force the resignations, retirements, and firings of several powerful Turtle Bay figures. He has yet to fill any of half a dozen newly vacant key positions, including those of Middle East coordinator, refugee commissioner, and his own replacement at the head of the U.N. Development Program.
On February 9, Mr. Annan wrote a letter to union president Rosemarie Waters, promising a review of any information regarding Mr. Nair that would be filed by the staff before last Friday.
Mr. Malloch Brown would then revert to you, Mr. Annan promised, and either offer an explanation of why management did not think that an independent investigation was warranted, or explain how the investigation would be organized.
The third option, letting Mr. Nair go, is not mentioned in Mr. Annan's letter, but is seen by some as the most likely scenario.
In a separate development, another long-time confidant of Mr. Annan, Fred Eckhard, confirmed yesterday that Mr. Annan has accepted his request to retire as chief spokesman, but asked him to stay until June. Denying that his resignation was forced by Mr. Malloch Brown, Mr. Eckhard added, however, With the arrival of Mark, of course, there is already a noticeable change in how we handle our communications.
The recently married Mr. Eckhard told the Sun he intends to retire in France.