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Sergio Vieira de Mello Died Trying for Another Miracle
This piece in WaPo is part travelogue, part editorial, part personal remembrance so only the first few paragraphs here. But it does sound like Sergio was one of the good guys.Sergio Vieira de Mello had been sitting in the garden at The Washington Postâs residence in Baghdad on a sweltering Friday afternoon last month, sipping a glass of Pinot Grigio and digging into a plate of hummus, when his tiny mobile phone began chirping. Frowning ever so slightly at the interruption to what he called his first chance to relax since arriving in Iraq as U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annanâs special representative, Vieira de Mello excused himself and took the call. Ten minutes later, after pacing around the lawn, the suave Brazilian diplomat returned, effusive with apologies. It was Jerry Bremer on the line, he said, referring to L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, by his nickname. Bremer had called to ask Vieira de Mello to be the sole non-Iraqi to speak at a ceremony that Sunday to unveil the countryâs new Governing Council. Vieira de Mello wondered aloud whether to accept, whether Bremerâs request was simply an effort to make it appear as if the U.S.-led occupation authority did not handpick the councilâs 25 members. But Vieira de Mello quickly added that he believed in the idea of the council. Giving even limited authority to Iraqis under a framework conceived by the Americans, he said, was an important first step in the political transformation of Iraq. Bremerâs request spoke volumes about Vieira de Mello, who died yesterday in the truck bombing of the United Nations compound in Baghdad. He had arrived in the city in June with the fuzziest of mandates from the U.N. Security Council. Unlike other U.N. missions, where diplomats of his stature are given clear responsibility for nation-building, the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq meant that he was limited, in the words of a council resolution, to "facilitating" the reconstruction of Iraqâs infrastructure and "encouraging" international cooperation to aid the country. more at the link Posted by: Steve White 2003-08-20 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=17801 |