The top UN representative in Afghanistan is preparing to stand down as Western powers seek to revamp their Afghan policy, The Times has learnt.
Kai Eide has told confidants that he does not want to stay in his post much beyond this year. “Kai has been telling people he is not sure that he wants to take the job forward into another round, but he has not told anyone officially,” one diplomat said.
Western powers have already begun a search for a successor to Mr Eide, a 60-year-old Norwegian. Among the names being suggested are Jean-Marie Gu?henno, the French former head of UN peacekeeping, and Ian Martin, from Britain, a former UN representative in Nepal. Other possible candidates include Staffan de Mistura, the Swedish-Italian former UN envoy in Iraq, and Hikmet Cetin, from Turkey, who served as Nato’s envoy to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2006.
If a successor is found, Mr Eide could depart at the time of next month’s London conference on Afghanistan. The UN could ask him to stay on until a planned follow-up meeting in Kabul in March. He has been in the post since March 2008 and, friends say, never intended to stay for more than two years.
But his own deputy and old friend, Peter Galbraith, accused him of failing to take a tough line against fraud in Afghanistan’s August 20 election. Mr Galbraith was dismissed by the UN for going public with his complaints.
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Last week the International Crisis Group, a non-governmental organisation, wrote in a report: “The polls severely damaged [the UN mission’s] ability to function effectively, weakening its internal morale and eroding Afghan confidence in Kai Eide.” It added that if the mission’s credibility was to be restored, “Eide must step down”.