US diplomat expected to take over UN political affairs
Jan 8, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — The current US ambassador to Indonesia is expected to be appointed shortly as head of an expanded UN department of political affairs, UN sources said Monday.
Lynn Pascoe is to succeed Ibrahim Gambari of Nigeria as under secretary general for political affairs, a sensitive post that involves tackling crises in world troublespots such as Iraq, the Near East, Sudan, Zimbabwe or Myanmar, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The appointment of the 63-year-old US career diplomat would be the latest by incoming UN chief Ban Ki-moon since he took over his post on January 1.
Last week Ban picked Tanzanian Foreign Minister Asha-Rose Migiro as his deputy to replace Britain’s Mark Malloch Brown and chose Britain’s ambassador to France John Holmes as his undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.
UN sources said that as head of an expanded UN political arm (DPA), Pascoe would takeover some functions currently handled by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), including disarming former combatants in post-conflict situations, procurement and peace mission support.
These activities within a beefed-up DPA are expected to be put under the responsibility of a senior Japanese official, the sources added.
The sources said France’s Jean-Marie Guehenno was expected to remain head of DPKO, a post which the United States had coveted.
The changes appear to be part a long-term drive by Ban to restructure and streamline the far-flung UN peacekeeping operations with nearly 100,000 blue helmets serving in 18 missions around the world, UN officials said.
The United States, which provides 22 percent of the total UN budget and 27 percent of the budget for UN peacekeeping, has raised questions about the effectiveness and raison d’etre of some UN missions, notably the one monitoring the tense border between Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) and the UN mission for a referendum in the Western Sahara.
The Security Council last year scaled back the size of UNMEE as a sign of frustration at the continuing stalemate between Addis Ababa and Asmara over their failure to implement in full a 2000 peace deal that ended their bloody two-year border war.
DPA monitors global political developments, advises the secretary general on actions that could advance the cause of peace, provides guidance to UN peace envoys and political missions in the field and extends electoral assistance to UN member states.
(AFP)