UN watchdog chief charged

The United Nations has issued a charge letter against Dileep Nair, the head of its internal watchdog office, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said Thursday.

Under-Secretary-General Nair, who heads the Office for Internal Oversight Services, has a week to respond to the charges raised by the Independent Inquiry Committee which is investigating misconduct and mismanagement in the UN Oil-for-Food Programme for Iraq.

The committee is led by former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

The Committee accused Nair of paying a special assistant from the Oil-for-Food programme fund, although the person performed no work related to the operation which allowed Iraq under Saddam Hussein to use oil-sale proceeds to purchase specific humanitarian supplies.

The United Nations has also launched an independent review of the allegations made against Nair to determine whether a full investigation is warranted.

Nair will retire as head of OIOS at the conclusion of his non-renewable 5-year term on April 23.