KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Kai Eide, the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan, may be on his way out as the new Western strategy for the war evolves, diplomats said.
The reputation of Eide and the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan was tarnished by allegations that the world body overlooked many circumstances that led to rampant corruption in the August presidential election victory for Hamid Karzai.
The International Crisis Group last week wrote that unless the credibility of UNAMA was somehow restored, "Eide must step down."
Diplomats told The Times of London, meanwhile, that Eide was reluctant to move forward with his tenure.
"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," the diplomatic source told the Times.
Replacements for Eide are already being vetted, the Times reports. Among his possible successors are Staffan de Mistura, the former U.N. envoy to Iraq, and Hikmet Cetin, a Turkish national who was the NATO envoy to Afghanistan from 2003 to2006.
If he chooses to step down, the Times report suggests he would likely do so before a January summit on Afghanistan scheduled in London.
