Originally published January 2 2006
UN's dismissal of elections expert prompts criticism from U.S.
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The firing of Carina Perelli, election unit director under U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, has led U.S. ambassador John Bolton to criticize the U.N. for mishandling an important situation, days before the Iraqi election, which Perelli was overseeing.
US Ambassador John Bolton on Monday criticized Secretary-General Kofi Annan's intention to fire his election unit director only 10 days before polls in Iraq.
Two senior UN officials told Reuters over the weekend that Annan had decided to dismiss Carina Perelli, a 48-year old Uruguayan sociologist accused of harassment of staff and management lapses.
UN officials said they tried to give Perelli a dismissal notice on Friday and again on Monday.
One official said she had to sign for the letter personally but apparently was not opening her apartment door.
"The decision has been taken but has not yet been communicated to her," said chief UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
An adviser to Perelli, speaking on condition of anonymity, said no letter was delivered to her home on Friday when she had a prearranged day off from her UN office.
She was with her lawyers on Monday when the United Nations tried to contact her after learning from the media that she was about to be fired, he said, adding that UN guards changed the locks on her office and blocked her e-mail account.
Christopher Burnham, the undersecretary-general for management, left a message on Perelli's home phone, saying he wanted to meet her on Monday and she contacted his office to arrange a Tuesday meeting, the advisor said.
Bolton told reporters investigations of Perelli's department began in December 2004 and the outside consultant reported its finding in August.
"Clearly there is no urgency to a decision or it wouldn't have taken a year."
A 22-page report by the Swiss firm Mannet SARL in August accused Perelli of mistreating employees, forcing them to run personal and demeaning errands for her and creating an atmosphere of "sexual innuendo."
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