UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday UN international staff would operate from Cyprus because Iraq was still too dangerous for the United Nations to resume major duties in the near future.  

In a 26-page report to the Security Council, obtained in advance by Reuters, Annan said essential relief aid would get to Iraq from various places in the region and announced the appointment of New Zealander Ross Mountain as the temporary director of the UN team.

Mountain is now head of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva. He will become the deputy special representative for Iraq after Annan appoints a new head of mission to replace Sergio Vieira de Mello, one of 22 people killed in the Aug. 19 bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad.

"I cannot afford to compromise the security of our international and national staff," said Annan, who withdrew foreign employees from Iraq in early November.

"Under the circumstances, it is difficult to envisage the United Nations operating with a large number of international staff inside Iraq in the near future, unless there is an unexpected and significant improvement in the overall security situation," Annan wrote.

Criticizes vague role

He also criticized several times the vague role the United Nations had been given in the past and questioned whether future duties would be worth the safety risks.

"In taking the difficult decisions that lie ahead, I shall be asking myself questions, such as: whether the substance of the role allocated to the United Nations is proportionate to the risks we are being asked to take? Whether the political process is fully inclusive and transparent and whether the humanitarian tasks in question are truly life-saving or not?" Annan said in the report.

"It would be important to have clarity both as regards what might be expected of us and about respective new possibilities," he said.

Despite pressure from the United States and others for the United Nations to return to Iraq, Annan said international officials would go to Baghdad on special visits only from Nicosia, Cyprus, or a smaller office in Amman, Jordan. Humanitarian activities would be carried out largely by national staff, who would need additional security.

The Nicosia office would be staffed by some 40 political, human rights, public information, humanitarian, administrative and security officials. This core team could be increased to 60 once a special representative is named.

Offers UN experience to Iraq

At the same time, Annan was aware that the United Nations could be the civilian face of the international community in Iraq after the US-led coalition relinquished power to an interim national government in July.

He offered, when possible, the extensive UN experience in organizing elections, writing a constitution, setting up human rights bodies and continuing humanitarian aid. He also gave some immediate political advice to the US-led coalition.

He urged the United States to make the transition process more inclusive and to "truly" empower Iraqis to make decisions. "Political steps of this kind would make it clear that the foreign occupation is short-lived," he said.

The coalition, Annan said, should avoid causalities among innocent Iraqi civilians, which could play into the hands of insurgents. And the military should show restraint "even in the face of deliberate and provocative terrorist attacks" and also treat prisoners according to international law.

On security arrangements, Annan said UN staff in Iraq needed to be protected by a "highly mobile, cohesive, responsive armed force on a countrywide basis." The report asked for what would be a "time consuming and expensive process" to upgrade its own security.

(China Daily December 11, 2003)