THE HAGUE, 25/07/07 - Tony Shkurtaj, who previously headed the UN's development organisation (UNDP) in North Korea, considers that Ad Melkert cannot stay on as associate administrator of UNDP. "He must be sacked," says Shkurtaj in Vrij Nederland weekly.

Shkurtaj was the operating head of the UNDP office in North Korea. He saw how millions of euros in aid flowed to the North Korean regime without UNDP having any idea about the spending of the funds. When he warned his superiors, including Melkert, that UNDP was systematically breaking its own rules in North Korea, his contract was not renewed, according to Vrij Nederland.

Shkurtaj told the Dutch weekly that UNDP took its revenge because he told his story to the Americans. He says Melkert is personally responsible. "He runs a Stalinist reign of terror. (...) Anyone not following the party line is kicked out. (...) All at once, I was a dangerous person who was refused access to the UN building (...) The staff in New York are dead scared now they have seen what happened to me."

Former American ambassador to the UN John Bolton said last week that Melkert should go as number two at the UNDP because he is "incompetent". The Netherlands should replace him, argued Bolton. He denied that there was a connection with the resignation of the American World Bank president Wolfowitz, in which Melkert, who worked at the World Bank earlier, allegedly played a dubious role.

In the interview with Vrij Nederland due to appear today, Shkurtaj says the American criticism of Melkert is unrelated to the role Melkert played in the Wolfowitz affair. "In the Netherlands, Melkert cries out that he was attacked by this nasty conservative Bush regime. Personally, I hate Bush. (...) I have nothing in common with conservative Republicans. But still, I say they are right to push for an open and transparent United Nations."