Annan appoints Lakhdar Brahimi to post of Special Adviser

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today announced the appointment of the outgoing senior UN envoy to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, as his Special Adviser with the rank of Under-Secretary-General.

A spokesman for Mr. Annan said Mr. Brahimi, 70, had accepted the post after a meeting on Tuesday, but the scope of his specific responsibilities has not yet been determined.

Mr. Brahimi is likely to advise the Secretary-General on "a wide range of issues, including situations in the areas of conflict prevention and conflict resolution," the spokesman said.

A former Algerian foreign minister with wide experience in international diplomacy, Mr. Brahimi has just completed his two-year term as the Secretary-General's Special Representative to Afghanistan. It was his second stint in the war-wracked nation - he was the Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Afghanistan from July 1997 to October 1999.

Mr. Brahimi was awarded the Order of Ghazi Amanula Khan, Afghanistan's highest decoration, for his efforts. His term culminated in the successful conclusion of the country's constitutional Loya Jirga.

Between his two assignments in Afghanistan, Mr. Brahimi served as Under-Secretary-General for Special Assignments in Support of the Secretary-General's Preventive and Peacemaking efforts. During that time, he produced what became known as the Brahimi report, a study of the existing system of peacekeeping and its shortcomings.

Before his term in Afghanistan, Mr. Brahimi was the UN Special Representative to Haiti and to South Africa. He has also undertaken special missions on behalf of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire), Liberia and Yemen.