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De Mello`s unfinished work would be completed: Annan
United Nations, Aug 24: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has vowed to honour the dying wish of his special representative in Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello to complete his mission in the war ravaged Iraq.
United Nations, Aug 24: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has vowed to honour the dying wish of his special representative in Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello to complete his mission in the war ravaged Iraq.
Vieira de Mello was killed in the massive truck
bombing of its headquarters in Baghdad last Tuesday.
"His work there is left unfinished, but, please God, we shall complete it," Annan said today at the funeral of the 55-year old diplomat, who died along with over 20 others.
As he lay dying under the rubble of the devastated UN headquarters, the envoy told a rescue worker, "Don't let them pull the mission out."
Speaking at the funeral in Vieira de Mello's hometown of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Annan said, "Sergio, who has given his life in that cause, should find a fitting memorial in a free and sovereign Iraq."
The Secretary-General sharply denounced the atrocious tactics of the terrorists who had deliberately targeted the UN.
"We cannot accept that Sergio had to die at this time, in this way, or that anything good can come of it," he said.
"We cannot accept that all his brilliance, his energy, his devotion to his staff and his loyalty to the ideals of the United Nations, have been so abruptly taken from us."
Referring to the late envoy's globe-spanning career, Annan said, "The people of Mozambique, of Lebanon, of Cambodia, of Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the Congo, of Kosovo... will remember him as one who was there to help them in their hour of greatest need, to relieve human suffering and to champion human rights."
Bureau Report
"His work there is left unfinished, but, please God, we shall complete it," Annan said today at the funeral of the 55-year old diplomat, who died along with over 20 others.
As he lay dying under the rubble of the devastated UN headquarters, the envoy told a rescue worker, "Don't let them pull the mission out."
Speaking at the funeral in Vieira de Mello's hometown of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Annan said, "Sergio, who has given his life in that cause, should find a fitting memorial in a free and sovereign Iraq."
The Secretary-General sharply denounced the atrocious tactics of the terrorists who had deliberately targeted the UN.
"We cannot accept that Sergio had to die at this time, in this way, or that anything good can come of it," he said.
"We cannot accept that all his brilliance, his energy, his devotion to his staff and his loyalty to the ideals of the United Nations, have been so abruptly taken from us."
Referring to the late envoy's globe-spanning career, Annan said, "The people of Mozambique, of Lebanon, of Cambodia, of Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the Congo, of Kosovo... will remember him as one who was there to help them in their hour of greatest need, to relieve human suffering and to champion human rights."
Bureau Report