| |
'Honest broker' raises UN profile in
Iraq
By
Robert McMahon
NEW YORK - The United Nations
Security Council resolution that legitimized the United
States-led administration in Iraq granted the United
Nations a central humanitarian role, but only loosely
defined political tasks. Some critics saw the measure's
calls for the UN to facilitate various reconstruction
and political efforts as confirmation that the world
body would have a limited role.
 But the choice
of veteran UN diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello to serve
as special envoy - backed by the United States - was a
sign that the UN would not be a silent partner to the
US-led coalition in Iraq. Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian
diplomat, has worked on some of the UN's toughest
missions during a 34-year career. Six weeks into his
assignment in Iraq, UN observers say, he has
demonstrated political skill in raising the profile of
the UN and its influence is likely to grow.
Vieira de Mello was instrumental in the
selection of representatives of the newly-formed
25-member Iraqi Governing Council, and he is reported to
have advised the US administrator of Iraq, L Paul
Bremer, to give the council a set of real powers to
affirm its standing as a sovereign representative body.
A UN electoral team will visit Baghdad early next month
to consult members of the council as they take steps
toward drafting a constitution and organizing elections.
Simon Chesterman studies transitional
administrations for the International Peace Academy, an
independent research institute based in New York. He
tells RFE/RL that Vieira de Mello's actions have
impressed Washington while enhancing the UN's stature.
"What Sergio, I think, is trying to do is to act
as an honest broker and really that's what the United
States needs in Iraq right now and I think that's why
what he's doing is acceptable [to Washington] because
every step that the UN takes towards blessing the
political process that is going on in Iraq will make it
more acceptable internationally and potentially more
acceptable locally."
Vieira de Mello is
temporarily on leave from his post as UN high
commissioner for human rights. Previously, as UN special
representative, he helped guide the former Indonesian
province of East Timor to independence last year. He
also served as the first UN administrator in Kosovo in
1999.
Chesterman says that these postconflict
experiences have given Vieira de Mello a keen
understanding of the importance of acting decisively
when transferring power. "The lessons that Sergio Vieira
de Mello has learned from a brief period in Kosovo and a
much longer period in East Timor I think are that the
first thing you need in a situation like this is
political clarity. The most disastrous situation in any
of these post-conflict operations has usually been
political ambiguity."
Vieira de Mello has moved
regularly around the country, meeting Iraq's numerous
factional and religious leaders to sample the range of
opinions. He spent last week meeting with leaders in the
neighboring countries of Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran.
In some cases, the UN envoy has access to key
figures unavailable to Bremer, says William Luers, a
former diplomat and president of the UN Association
think tank. He says that Vieira de Mello is "a master at
this" and suspects he will "play down his role vis-a-vis
[Bremer] but be much more in touch with the new [Iraqi]
national council [and] with other governments who are
interested". Luers says that Vieira de Mello "can do
that in ways that Bremer cannot because Bremer doesn't
know these players. He doesn't know how to work it."
If the new governing council gains broad
legitimacy internationally, that could boost the success
of a crucial donor conference for Iraq planned for
October. In addition to reconstruction assistance, US
officials have made it clear they are seeking more
international support for peacekeeping in Iraq.
India, France and Germany - countries that
opposed the war in Iraq - say that they cannot
contribute troops without a broader UN mandate. US
officials have said Security Council Resolution 1483,
adopted in May, gives UN members the legitimacy they
need to support coalition efforts. But US Secretary of
State Colin Powell also said that Washington was holding
talks with other governments on a possible new UN
resolution on Iraq.
Russian Foreign Minister
Igor Ivanov said during a visit to Cairo that he favored
expanding the UN's role. "We believe it is necessary to
speed up the process of handing over the power to
legitimate representatives of the Iraqi people, and for
that purpose it is necessary to increase the role of the
United Nations in the Iraqi settlement process."
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said after
talks with Vieira de Mello that the new Iraqi council
should not be used to justify the continued occupation
of Iraq by US and British forces. He said that Iran was
"ready to cooperate with UN plans in the region" and
called for a transfer of power under UN leadership to an
Iraqi democratic national regime.
Copyright
(c) 2002, RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted with the permission of
Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC
20036
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
