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Algeria: UN Needs to Restore Its Image, Says Panel Boss
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The Nation (Nairobi)
19 March 2008
Posted to the web 18 March 2008
Laeed Zaghlami
Algiers
The United Nations should work towards restoring its credibility, independence and fairness in the world, declares veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi, the new chairman of the independent panel on safety and security of United Nations personnel and premises.
In an interview to local press, Mr Brahimi said: "The UN flag is no more a protection, but rather a target because of its failure to preserve impartiality in different conflicts in the world, although it is not a reason to justify terrorist attacks'.'
Mr Brahimi, urges the international organisation to change its personnel and premises safety procedures. "It has to make a detailed assessment of the importance of its tasks and assignments as well as enumerate risks that it may face and which have to be accepted by its staff', he said.
Mr Brahimi was appointed in January by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to chair the international panel in the light of the terrorist attack at the Algiers UN office in December.
Panel is composed
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The panel is composed of five independent personalities; Elsayed Ibrahim Elsayed Mohamed Elhabbal of Egypt; Anil Kumar Gupta of India; Umit Pamir of Turkey, Thomas Boy Sibande of South Africa and Margareta Wahlström of Sweden.
The panel, expected to commence shortly its tasks, will examine present UN operations and vulnerabilities around the world. 'We will take a critical look at the existing situation' to determine how the UN and its members can bolster safety and security of personnel and premises," explained the UN Diplomat. In more details, he underlined: 'We will take a close look at what happened in Algiers and see what immediate lessons there may be for us".
Evoking the row between Algeria and UN during last December over the formation of the international panel, Mr Brahimi explained that the UN secretary general did not have the intention to set up unilaterally a police inquiry as argued.
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