Monday, February 21 2005 11:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

United Nations: The UN's top refugees official, Dutch ex-Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers, has resigned amid sexual harassment allegations, a UN spokesman confirmed yesterday (Feb 20, 2005).

Lubbers had on Friday (Feb 18, 2005) refused to resign after a meeting with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, which came hours after Britain's Independent newspaper published lurid details from a confidential report into his behaviour.

At a bizarre press appearance that UN officials privately described as an embarrassment, the 65-year-old Dutchman, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said that he was merely "friendly to women."

He also hinted that at least some of the report had been fabricated, and that only a small part of the meeting with Annan was devoted to the Independent's revelations.

Annan's office then issued a statement indicating that the "main focus" of the meeting was Lubbers's future at the United Nations. The UN refugee agency that Lubbers headed is based in Geneva.

After reviewing the report and taking legal advice, Annan took no action against the Dutchman but sent him a letter of reprimand.

In the press appearance that left UN staff bewildered and embarrassed, Lubbers said he would not resign, after meeting with Annan.

Lubbers demonstrated on a journalist how he said he had escorted a woman out of a meeting at his Geneva headquarters, which led to the initial harassment allegation last year (2004).