At envoy’s wake, Annan vows UN will complete work in Iraq

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today paid tribute to his envoy for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was killed in a massive terrorist bombing earlier this week, by vowing to honour his dying wish that the United Nations complete its mission in the war-ravaged nation.

“His work there is left unfinished, but, please God, we shall complete it,” the Secretary-General said at the wake for the 55-year-old Brazilian diplomat, who was murdered along with more than 20 others when a truck bomb exploded Tuesday outside the UN’s headquarters at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad.

As Mr. Vieira de Mello lay dying under the rubble of the devastated UN office, the envoy told a rescue worker, “Don’t let them pull the mission out.”

Addressing the ceremonies in Mr. Vieira de Mello’s hometown of Rio de Janeiro, Mr. Annan said that “Sergio, who has given his life in that cause, [should] find a fitting memorial in a free and sovereign Iraq.”

The Secretary-General adamantly 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.”

“Indeed,” Mr. Annan emphasized, “we can imagine nothing more cruel, or pointless, or unjust.”

Alluding to the late envoy’s globe-spanning career, Mr. Annan said, “The people of Mozambique, of Lebanon, of Cambodia, of Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the Congo, of Kosovo – of many countries, on almost every continent, and perhaps most of all the people of Timor-Leste – 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.” He added that the people of Iraq, too, would look back on Mr. Vieira de Mello with gratitude.

In an emotional closing, the Secretary-General addressed his late colleague directly. “Sergio, my friend, you have entered that Pantheon of heroes that the United Nations wishes it did not have,” he said. “You will shine forever among our brightest stars.”

Mr. Annan then wished for Mr. Vieira de Mello to enjoy the noble ideal he had given his life for: “May you rest in peace.”

On his arrival earlier Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, the Secretary-General told reporters at the airport that he had come “to mourn a close friend and colleague, a man of peace, a man who had given so much to the world and yet has been taken from us in such a senseless, savage way.” The people of Brazil, he added, “should rightly be proud of him for what he has achieved in his short life.”

Mr. Annan also vowed to continue the work that Mr. Vieira de Mello had begun. “I think that’s the best way to honour his memory and what he stood for, and he himself wouldn’t want it any other way,” he said. “His memory should inspire us to carry on.”

In response to questions, the Secretary-General affirmed that the United Nations would continue its presence in Iraq. “Obviously, we’ll take strict security measures to protect our staff, but we will continue,” he said.

At the time of his death, Mr. Vieira de Mello was also the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Before that, he was the UN Transitional Administrator in East Timor, helping to guide the world’s newest nation during its transition to independence. Prior to that, he briefly was the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo, following an 18-month stint at UN Headquarters in New York as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

Mr. Vieira de Mello spent the bulk of his career in service with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which he joined in 1969, culminating in his appointment as Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees in January 1996.

His experience spanned the globe, including in Bangladesh, Sudan, Cyprus, Mozambique, Peru and Lebanon. Mr. Vieira de Mello also served as Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for Cambodia, Director of Repatriation for the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia, Head of Civil Affairs of the UN Protection Force in the former Yugoslavia, as well as UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Great Lakes region of Africa.

Mr. Vieira de Mello is survived by his wife, Annie, and two sons, Adrian and Laurent.