Annan's chief of staff resigns

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 22 (AFP) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's chief of staff resigned effective next month, the United Nations said in an announcement Wednesday.
Iqbal Riza, a longtime confidant who was among those criticised for the UN's failure to take decisive action during the 1994 Rwanda genocide, "has always provided me with wise and trusted counsel," Annan said in a statement.
Annan said Riza's request to leave had been "long-standing" and that he accepted it "with very mixed emotions."
Riza is widely considered to be one of the most powerful figures in the UN system and has long been Annan's right-hand man. He was Annan's deputy in 1994, when Annan was head of UN peacekeeping operations.
UN peacekeepers on the ground in Rwanda failed to take action to stop the slaughter of around 800,000 people in the biggest genocide since the Holocaust in World War II.
Riza's resignation is effective January 15, Annan said.

12/22/2004 21:04 GMT - AFP