ANNAN ORDERS HEAD OF UN DRUGS AGENCY TO STEP DOWN

Pino Arlacchi, head of the United Nations programme to combat the
international drugs trade, has been told to step down.

Kofi Annan, UN secretary-general, told Mr Arlacchi that he must leave the
organisation when his contract finishes at the end of February.

Mr Annan has been careful not to voice his frustration over Mr Arlacchi
openly. The secretary general made his request privately, leaving the
Italian diplomat an opportunity to be seen leaving on his own accord.

The move follows months of controversy over Mr Arlacchi's management style
that has put in doubt the future of the UN's programme of fighting the
international drugs trade.

Several European donors, including the Netherlands, cut off their funding
of the Vienna-based Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNDCP)
following allegations of Mr Arlacchi's mismanagement, which were the focus
of a damning UN investigation released last month. UN internal overseers
who inspected the agency described its decision-making and operational
system as "more appropriate for a task force than for an established
organisation that needs clearly defined responsibilities and lines of
authority".

Mr Annan is said to have been studying a second report concerning more
serious allegations of misconduct by Mr Arlacchi relating to plans to send
a 90-year-old wooden boat on a round-the-world trip "to raise awareness" of
the agency.

Diplomats who have seen the report say that it is even more damning than
the first.

Fred Eckhard, Mr Annan's spokesman, said: "We know the secretary-general is
studying the reports and I've not been informed that he's yet made a final
decision."

Diplomats say Mr Arlacchi's fate was sealed when he lost the support of the
US and Italy following the changes of administration in both countries.

"The US is becoming less and less supportive. The Clinton holdovers are
gone," said one.

Mr Arlacchi, a former member of Italy's socialist party, is a political
appointee who serves at the pleasure of the secretary-general and relies on
the support of the Italian government. That support began to fade after
rightwing Silvio Berlusconi was elected prime minister this year.

Mr Annan has sought funding for the new post of deputy director of the
UNDCP to rein in Mr Arlacchi.

Mr Arlacchi, who has said in the past he has been unjustly singled out,
could not be reached for comment.