UN refugee chief faces sexual harassment probe

The United Nations refugee chief Rudd Lubbers is under investigation for sexual harassment after a staff member filed a complaint.

“There was no improper behaviour on my part,” said Ruud Lubbers, a former Dutch prime minister.

He said the case was filed on April 27 and related to a meeting that took place in his office on December 18 last year that was also attended by five other staff members.

UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said the case is being investigated by the UN Office of Internal Oversight.

“That is all we will be saying, as this inquiry is underway,” Redmond said.

The New York Times said that the complaint was made by an American woman in her 40s who had worked for the refugee agency for more than 20 years.

The incident allegedly happened as she and a group of male staff members were leaving Lubbers’ office at the end of the December meeting, the paper said.

Lubbers, 65, was appointed to head the refugee agency by the UN General Assembly in 2000. His original three-year term was extended last year and now runs until December 31, 2005.

Lubbers was the longest-serving post-war premier of the Netherlands, serving from 1982 until hd from politics . He is married and has three children.