UNITED NATIONS, Jan 18: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Monday the resignations of several senior officials gave him the chance to restructure his management team , under fire in the United States because of the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal.

Mr Annan also disclosed that he would nominate US Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman to replace Carol Bellamy as head of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). "Miss Ann Veneman is my candidate for the UNICEF position," Mr Annan told reporters.

"I will be submitting a recommendation to the board very shortly." UNICEF's board must approve the choice of a new executive director. Ms Veneman, 55, a lawyer raised in California's fertile San Joaquin Valley, was the first female US agriculture secretary. She resigned after Bush was re-elected in November, but did not say what she would do next.

UN officials said Mr Annan was expected to announce in a month or so additional personnel changes as well as further staff mandates on management responsibility, sexual harassment and whistle-blowers.

"Some people were leaving and it offered an opportunity to rethink and remake the team," Mr Annan told reporters. "Several people were going to leave anyway and that opportunity was offered so I decided to take a look at the whole team."