New-zealænderen Ross Mountain, som vil være kendt af mange gamle i gårde i det danske u-landsmiljø, er nu udnævnt til fungerende FN-chef i Irak.
Hvad måske ikke så mange ved er, at han er tiptip-oldebarn af konseilpræsident og biskop Ditlev G. Monrad (1811-1887), der udvandrede til New Zealand med sin familie efter nederlaget i 1864. Han kom hjem allerede i 1869, men hans børn blev derude som nybyggere på nordøen i tilknytning til den danske koloni Dannevirke. Ross Mountain har Monrad som et af sine mellemnavne.
Her FNs pressemeddelelse onsdag om udnævnelsen i original på engelsk.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan Wednesday named veteran relief coordinator Ross Mountain as his Acting Special Representative for Iraq to replace Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was among those killed in the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad in August.
At UN Headquarters in Geneva, he told reporters that Mr. Mountain would visit the country, as needed, from what the temporary main UN base for Iraqi operations in Nicosia, Cyprus, “with a presence also in Amman,” Jordan, until security improves.
Mr. Mountain first joined the UN in 1973 and, after serving in a variety of positions, for the most part in the UNDP, was appointed Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator and director of the Geneva office of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in August 1998. He headed the OCHA Crisis Task Team for Iraq and last visited Iraq in July.
– I have worked in the Middle East before and it will be a return to dealing with obviously an extremely acute issue, Mr. Mountain told the news conference. “The United Nations did not leave and has not left Iraq.” The UN would continue to focus on humanitarian aid and reconstruction pending further decisions by Mr. Annan and the Security Council, he said.
The local UN staff continued the organizations work after international staff members were pulled out following the bombing.
Mr. Annan has said he will name a permanent Special Representative for Iraq next year.
He was asked whether he had a time-table for returning international UN staff back into Iraq. – No, I cannot have a time-table, he said.
– It depends on the security situation. We need a secure environment to operate in and, of course, security is not just necessary for the United Nations staff, it is necessary for reconstruction, it is necessary for ordinary Iraqis and it is necessary for the UN and the humanitarian workers.
