Head of UN Palestinian agency suspended amid probe

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has been placed on administrative leave as an internal probe into alleged mismanagement at the organisation proceeds, the United Nations said Wednesday.

Pierre Krahenbuhl, commissioner general of the agency known as UNRWA, will be replaced on an interim basis by the agency's acting deputy chief Christian Saunders, his agency said.

The agency said findings in the probe so far "revealed management issues which relate specifically to the commissioner general." A separate statement from UN headquarters said Secretary General Antonio Guterres had decided to place Krahenbuhl on administrative leave for now.

It said preliminary findings revealed no "fraud or misappropriation of operational funds by the commissioner-general. There are, however, managerial issues that need to be addressed." An internal ethics report has alleged mismanagement and abuses of authority at the highest levels of the agency, which has also faced a financial crisis after US funding cuts.

UN investigators have been probing the allegations in the confidential report, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

The report describes "credible and corroborated" allegations of serious ethical abuses, including ones involving Krahenbuhl, a Swiss national.

It says the allegations include senior management engaging in "sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination and other abuses of authority, for personal gain, to suppress legitimate dissent, and to otherwise achieve their personal objectives."