Crises growing for Annan

NEW YORK — In the heyday of his first term leading the United Nations, Kofi Annan shared a Nobel Peace Prize and was dubbed "the rock star of diplomacy." One of the world's toughest jobs seemed, in his hands, not quite so daunting.

Now, many of his fans — and they remain legion worldwide — worry openly about his effectiveness, wondering if the very warmth that made him popular reflects a flawed management style. His critics, citing scandal after scandal in the U.N.'s domain, say the secretary-general's reputation has been damaged irreparably.

Even his new chief of staff, brought on board in January to help Annan survive the last two years of his term, is blunt in acknowledging leadership shortcomings and a dire need to restore eroded U.N. morale.

"People feel beleaguered, they feel working here is not the badge of pride it used to be," Mark Malloch Brown told The Associated Press. "There is frustration with the leadership. We're not seen as fighting back enough."

Some of Annan's critics, such as Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., are urging him to quit, something no secretary-general has ever done.

"The United States benefits from a credible, transparent U.N.," Coleman said. "Right now we have a wounded partner, with a very wounded leader."

But dismay extends far beyond the ranks of American conservatives — to longtime admirers like Salim Lone, who was chief U.N. spokesman in Baghdad when a bomb blast killed 22 of his colleagues in August 2003.

Lone, a Kenyan now retired from the U.N., says Annan began to struggle near the end of his first five-year term, when the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, prompted an aggrieved U.S. government to expect unfaltering support from the United Nations for its military responses.

"Kofi Annan is one of the warmest people one could ever hope to meet — in his first term, many of us thought he was the best secretary-general the U.N. ever had," Lone said.

"But since 9/11, it's not remotely possible for his charm and warmth to in any way substitute for real action. The enormous challenges he faced have paralyzed him — the institution is in crisis."