No confidence vote for Annan?

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UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN employees are expected to issue an
unprecedented vote of no confidence in Secretary-General Kofi Annan
(news - web sites), union sources say, after he pardoned the body's top
oversight official over a series of allegations. 

The UN staff union, in what officials said was the first vote of its
kind in the more than 50-year history of the United Nations (news - web
sites), was set to approve a resolution withdrawing support for the
embattled Annan and senior UN management. 

Annan has been in the line of fire over a high-profile series of
scandals including controversy about a UN aid programme that
investigators say allowed deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein (news -
web sites) to embezzle billions of dollars. 

Staffers said the trigger for the no-confidence measure was an
announcement this week that Annan had pardoned the UN's top oversight
official, who was facing allegations of favouritism and sexual
harassment. 

The union had requested a formal probe into the behaviour of the
official, Dileep Nair, after employees accused him of harassing members
of his staff and violating UN rules on the hiring and promotion of
workers. 

Top UN spokesman Fred Eckhard announced on Tuesday that Nair had been
exonerated by Annan "after a thorough review" by the UN's senior
official in charge of management, Catherine Bertini. 

Annan underlined that he "had every confidence" in Nair, Eckhard said,
but UN employees ridiculed the decision and claimed that investigators
had not questioned the staff union, which first raised the complaints
in April. 

"This was a whitewash, pure and simple," Guy Candusso, a senior member of the staff union, told AFP. 

Candusso noted that Eckhard's declaration to the press had said that "no further action was necessary in the matter." 

But in a letter sent to the union, a copy of which was obtained by AFP,
Annan's chief of staff Iqbal Riza said Nair had been "advised that he
should exercise caution" in future to "minimise the risk of negative
perception." 

In a resolution set to be adopted on Friday, the union said Riza's
statement "substantiates the contention of the staff that there was
impropriety" and that there exists "a lack of integrity, particularly
at the higher levels of the organisation." 

The draft resolution, also obtained exclusively by AFP, calls on the
union president to "convey this vote of no confidence to the secretary
general." 

Staffers who asked not to be named, afraid that speaking out could
damage their future prospects in the United Nations, said the Nair
decision was an example of corruption by Annan and his senior staff. 

They noted that Riza, UN undersecretary general for information Shashi
Tharoor and other top officials had served directly under Annan at
least since 1994, when he was head of UN peacekeeping operations. 

At the time, the United Nations was widely criticised for failing to
stop the Rwanda genocide that left 800,000 people dead, even though UN
peacekeepers were on the ground -- a catastrophe for which Annan has
publicly apologised. 

Annan could not be reached for immediate comment. He is currently in
Africa on a high-profile mission aimed at ending the long-running civil
war in Sudan. 

The latest crisis comes as Annan faces unprecedented calls to resign
over the burgeoning scandal about "oil-for-food," a UN aid scheme that
US investigators say allowed Saddam to siphon off billions of dollars. 

The programme has tainted longtime UN officials like Benon Sevan, who
oversaw the operation and is now accused of pocketing Saddam's money in
exchange for turning a blind eye to the Iraqi dictator's abuses. 

Annan stands accused of obstructing US investigators, especially since
his hand-picked official Paul Volcker this week rejected calls from the
US Senate to turn over documents from the programme and waive UN staff
immunity. 

Eckhard, his spokesman, on Thursday said that Annan is expected to serve out his term, which ends in 2006. 

Veteran UN staff said this was the first time in history that employees
had risen up en masse to make a vote of no confidence in a sitting
secretary general. 

"Kofi Annan is surrounded by corruption, a gang of criminals
responsible for some of the worst things that happened to mankind in
the 20th century," said one angry staffer, referring to the Rwanda
massacres. 

"It's possible that he doesn't know directly what has gone on," said
the employee, who has worked for the United Nations for two decades.
"But that's no excuse."

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