Elections Chief to Be Fired, U.N. Official Says

UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Kofi Annan has decided to fire the United Nations’ top electoral expert who oversaw successful elections in Iraq and Afghanistan, citing management failures, a U.N. official said.

Carina Perelli, 48, a Uruguayan national whose role in Iraq was praised by President Bush in his 2005 State of the Union address, presided over one of the world body’s most prestigious departments. She recently returned from Iraq, where she played a role in helping to organize October’s constitution referendum.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because an official announcement is not expected until Monday, said Perelli was being dismissed.

Contacted by Associated Press, Perelli said, “The first I was made aware of this was through the AP story, and I can’t comment.”

Perelli had been under investigation since April, after a U.N.-commissioned management review quoted staff as saying “sexual innuendo is part of the ‘fabric’ ” of the Electoral Assistance Division, which she headed. In August, the United Nations formally accused Perelli of harassing her staff after a four-month review of the charges of an abusive and sexually offensive environment in her division.