SECRETARY-GENERAL INFORMS SECURITY COUNCIL OF APPOINTMENT

OF RAFEEUDDIN AHMED AS SPECIAL ADVISER

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

����������� The Secretary-General today met with the members of the Security Council to inform them that he had formalized the role of Rafeeuddin Ahmed by appointing him as his Special Adviser.� As he has done over the past two months, Mr. Ahmed will continue to consider possible United Nations roles in post-war Iraq and their legal, political, operational and resource implications.

The Secretary-General and the members of the Council agreed that any role beyond the coordination of humanitarian activities in Iraq, and other activities mandated by existing resolutions, would first require a new mandate from the Security Council.

The members of the Security Council welcomed Mr. Ahmed’s appointment and expressed satisfaction at the start of a dialogue with the Secretary-General on a subject which would acquire added urgency in the weeks to come.

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