Sweden's former auditor general, Inga-Britt Ahlenius, was appointed on Wednesday to head the U.N. oversight office for a non-renewable five-year term. Secretary-General Kofi Annan hired Ahlenius to replace Dileep Nair of Singapore, who had been charged with misusing funds from the oil-for-food programme in Iraq to pay a Singapore university professor in his office. His job had nothing to do with that relief programme. Nair was also charged with sexual harassment by some U.N. staff members, but he already left the U.N. The oversight office is responsible for investigating charges of wrongdoings in the U.N. system. Ahlenius was selected among a short list of candidates, most of them Europeans and given the title of U.N. Undersecretary-General for Oversight Services. She must be approved by the 191-nation General Assembly, which is expected. Ahlenius was Auditor General of Sweden and held several positions in the ministry of finance in the past. --SP 2243 Local Time 1943 GMT
