New Zealander gets top UN job in Iraq

By BRIDGET CARTER and AGENCIES

New Zealander Ross Mountain has been chosen as the interim United Nations envoy to Iraq, only two weeks before he is due to fly home for Christmas.

Mountain, 60, has devoted his life to UN humanitarian work in war zones throughout the world and is taking on the job from Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was killed in the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.

His close friend, Anthony Haas, said Mr Mountain "is a fearless individual" who had given his life to the UN, but he still worried about him taking on the job.

"We know how tragically it removed the man he will be succeeding and hence the concern for my friend."

Diplomats said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had chosen Mr Mountain.

Mr Annan would name a new special representative to Iraq early next year and Mr Mountain would become the deputy.

Mr Haas said he was not surprised Mr Mountain was identified by the Secretary-General as "the guy who can do it".

"Ross is a very decent human being who probably achieves what he does because he has such a warm and outgoing personality."

He had been a long-time friend of Mr Mountain since they were flatmates as undergraduate university students in Wellington during the 1960s.

As a young student and president of the New Zealand University Students' Association, he said Mr Mountain had dreamed of such a career path.

Mr Mountain is working as the UN assistant emergency relief co-ordinator and director of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva.

He was expected to arrive with his wife, Brigitte Khair-Mountain, in Auckland on Christmas Eve to catch up with friends and family.


A relative of Ms Khair-Mountain, Leza Lees, said she thought Mr Mountain was originally supposed to have Sergio Vieira de Mello's job when he was killed, but instead, he went to Liberia because he spoke French.

Mr Haas said Mr Mountain was due to retire from the United Nations in a year and he was hoping to discuss options with him for work in New Zealand.

He wanted to know if his new job "stuffs up our chances of having a decent Christmas".

UN in Iraq

* Withdrew its international staff from Iraq after the August 19 bombing of the UN headquarters.

* Future UN operations in Iraq are to be assessed in a report expected to be released this week.

Herald Feature: Iraq