Head of UNRWA has resigned: U.N. spokesman

United Nations (QNN)- The head of the U.N. agency that aids Palestinian refugees has resigned, effective immediately, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

In a statement on Wednesday, the UN said Pierre Krähenbühl had resigned with immediate effect his from role as commissioner general at the agency after an internal investigation found “management issues.”

The UNRWA had announced earlier on Wednesday that Krähenbühl had been replaced.

Preliminary findings “exclude fraud or misappropriation of operational funds” by Krähenbühl, a UN spokesman said separately. “There are, however, managerial issues that need to be addressed.”

A leaked internal investigation into misconduct at UNRWA, completed late last year, accused the agency of “credible and corroborated” allegations of serious ethical abuses, including some involving Krähenbühl.

UNRWA provides education, health, housing and relief services to more than 5 million registered refugees in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, as well as in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. It was founded one year after the expulsion of indigenous Palestinians from their homeland to create ‘Israel’.