By Irwin Arieff UNITED NATIONS, Jan 4 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday asked more than 30 top officials to offer their resignation so he can move quickly to take control of the world body's bureaucracy, aides said. Letters were sent out asking all officials at the assistant secretary-general level and up to submit their resignations, the aides said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Most of the officials at the most senior levels work under contracts that expire at the end of February. But the letters signal that Ban wants to replace some of these even sooner, the aides said. Most of the officials affected by the request would be replaced in coming weeks but some would be asked to stay on, they said. "I can't really say this is normal," said one senior official when asked about the letters. "We all have contracts until the end of February, and most secretaries-general have kept on most of the top staff," said this official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Jean-Marie Guehenno of France, the undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations, is expected to be among those spared, at least for the coming months. One idea under consideration, U.N. sources said, is dividing the peacekeeping department in two, with perhaps an American heading one part of it and France the other. Another possible reorganization would combine the existing disarmament and political affairs departments and put them under one undersecretary-general who would also be responsible for leading anti-terrorism programs, the sources said. Ban, a South Korean who succeeded Kofi Annan on Jan. 1, has been trying to ensure balance in his choice of top aides among permanent Security Council members instrumental in his election and key developing nations. He has also promised to include women among his top appointees, including the key post of deputy secretary-general, which is expected to go to a woman from sub-Saharan Africa and be named next week. Ban to date has named only a handful of appointees, choosing veteran Indian diplomat Vijay Nambiar as his chief of staff, award-winning Haitian broadcast journalist Michele Montas as his spokeswoman, Mexican environmentalist Alicia Barcena Ibarra as undersecretary-general for administration and management, and senior British diplomat John Holmes as undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs. All but Holmes had been U.N. staff members. Nambiar was an adviser to Annan, Barcena was Annan's chief of staff and Montas worked in the U.N. broadcasting division.
