Secretary-General appoints deputy special representative for East Timor

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appointed Sukehiro Hasegawa of Japan as his new Deputy Special Representative in East Timor, a UN spokesman announced.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Hasegawa was the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) special adviser on crime prevention and recovery, stationed in Geneva. He has worked for UNDP since 1969, holding senior posts with the agency in Rwanda, Cambodia, Nepal, and Indonesia, and has served with the UN peacekeeping mission in Somalia. In East Timor, he will also function as the UNDP Resident Coordinator.

Mr. Hasegawa succeeds Dennis McNamara, who “served with distinction” with the UN Transitional Mission in East Timor (UNTAET) – the preceding mission – and during the start-up of the present UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET), according to spokesman Stephane Dujarric.