UNITED NATIONS, Feb 7: Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday suspended the head of the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq and another senior UN official after a report of an independent investigation commission accused them of misconduct , a UN spokesman said.

Benon Sevan, who was in charge of the 64 billion dollar humanitarian program, and Joseph Stephanides, who heads the UN Security Council Affairs Division, were told that they had been suspended with pay, spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

Mr Sevan and Stephanides were told they would receive a letter this week "laying out the charges against them", which will allow them to defend themselves before UN disciplinary bodies in what will likely be a lengthy appeals process, he said.

"Suspension is the beginning of a disciplinary process," Mr Eckhard said. As regards the lifting of diplomatic immunity, Mr Eckhard said it was an "executive option" for the secretary-general that which he would consider exercising once there was convincing evidence of "criminal activity".

The suspension of Mr Sevan and Mr Stephanides is a separate, internal UN process, he said. The UN officials will have 14 days to respond to the formal charges. The UN secretariat would then decide on what action "of a disciplinary nature to take", he said. "So this process can take months and months and months to be completed," Mr Eckhard said.