BEIJING, Dec. 5 -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had decided to fire the highly regarded chief of the U.N. office that promotes free elections around the world for harassing staff and management failures, a UN official said.

    The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because an official announcement is not expected until today, said Carina Perelli was being dismissed from the United Nations.

    Perelli said: "The first I was made aware of this was through the AP story, and I can't comment further."

    In August, the United Nations formally accused Perelli of harassing her staff after a four-month review into the claims of an abusive and sexually offensive environment in her division. She was given the opportunity to respond, but her reply was delayed because she was involved in parliamentary elections in Afghanistan in September and Iraq¡¯s constitutional referendum in October.

    Perelli, a Uruguayan, won wide praise for her work in helping organize elections in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Palestinian territories and had been considered one of the young rising stars at the United Nations.

    But she had been under investigation since April, after a UN-commissioned management review quoted staff as saying "sexual innuendo is part of the 'fabric'" of the Electoral Assistance Division which she headed.

    The review never named Perelli or anyone else in her office in specific allegations of sexual or professional harassment. But it said staff claimed they were subject to shouting and screaming by superiors, while some junior staff were saddled with work they were not qualified to do. Enditem

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)