Special Adviser Lakhdar Brahimi honoured by German UN Association

United Nations Special Adviser Lakhdar Brahimi - who was instrumental in Iraq's recent political transition and carried out a similar diplomatic assignment in Afghanistan - was today awarded the Dag Hammarskjold Honorary Medal from the German UN Association at a ceremony in Munich.

Paying tribute to his aide's accomplishments in a message to the gathering, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called him "one of the finest mediators and negotiators the United Nations has been privileged to call one of its own."

"I cannot count the number of times that I have heard my senior staff say, as we discuss potential candidates to lead peace processes in various parts of the world, 'what we need is someone like Mr. Brahimi,'" Mr. Annan said.

The Secretary-General attributed this to the envoy's talent, skill and experience, but above all his "sense of dedication and self-sacrifice."

"He has served in the most dangerous places, carrying out the most delicate and difficult assignments with great integrity and true wisdom," said Mr. Annan. "He is one of our leading global citizens, whose wise counsel I rely on."