May 18, 2004

MORE EMBARRASSMENT FOR THE UNITED NATIONS:

The United Nations is investigating claims of sexual harassment made by a member of staff against Ruud Lubbers, the High Commissioner for Refugees.
In a statement, Mr Lubbers said the accusation had been made in April, and related to a meeting that took place in his office in December last year.

The New York Times said the claim had been made by an American woman who had worked for the UNHCR for many years.

A minor issue, on its own, though it's likely to have some resonance given the pending publication of Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures, a book that paints U.N. peacekeeping efforts in a sufficiently negative light that Kofi Annan tried to suppress it.