United Nations, Aug 23: Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed the UN humanitarian chief in Iraq as acting head of the UN mission following the death of his top envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello, in the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, Security Council diplomats said.
Annan sent a letter to Council members informing them
of his decision to name Ramiro Lopes da Silva of Portugal as
his acting special representative in Iraq on Friday, the
diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Secretary-General had been looking for a candidate to
replace Vieira de Mello after his four-month assignment in
Iraq was due to end in September, but he told reporters after
Tuesday's attack it was too soon to make any announcement.
Vieira de Mello had been scheduled to return to his job
as UN High Commissioner for human rights in Geneva.
Lopes da Silva, 54, has been the coordinator of UN
humanitarian programmes in Iraq since June 2002.
He joined the United Nations system in 1985 and served in
several humanitarian emergencies, including as UN
coordinator in Angola from 1996 until 1998.
Before his Iraq assignment, he was director of the
transport and logistics division at the UN World Food
Programme at its Rome headquarters. During that assignment, he
also served as the agency's special envoy during the
Afghanistan crisis.
Vieira de Mello and more than 20 others were killed when
a truck bomb destroyed part of the UN's headquarters in the
Canal Hotel in Baghdad. Over 100 people were injured.
Bureau Report
