ARABS-UN - Dec.10 - No Swift Redeployment In Iraq.

UN Sec-Gen Annan says he has ruled out a swift renewal of a substantial UN presence in Iraq because of the danger there. "I cannot compromise the security of our international and national staff", he says in a 26-page report to the Security Council that found the UN to be "a high-value, high-impact target for terrorist activity in Iraq for the foreseeable future". (Annan withdrew all international staff members from Iraq in October after a series of attacks on relief officials and diplomats and the bombing of the UN compound in August, which killed 22 people - with 15 of the dead UN employees having included Sergio Vieira de Mello, the head of the mission). He says the UN's Iraq operation would now establish temporary headquarters in Nicosia, with 40 people based there and in an annex in Amman. (Before the bombings, the UN envisioned having 400 workers in Iraq). He announced the appointment of Ross Mountain, a New Zealander who currently heads the Geneva-based UN Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as his interim envoy to Iraq until the naming of a permanent replacement for Vieira de Mello in 2004. The report says the UN is concerned that, to Iraqis, it might have become indistinguishable from the US-led coalition, and therefore subject to the same high threat. (European states and others have been calling on Annan to deepen the UN's involvement in Iraq, but the report indicates that uppermost in his mind at the moment is the security situation). Annan says the UN would have to take on extensive and costly reforms of its protective services before returning to Iraq. He calls for a "highly mobile, cohesive, responsive armed force on a countrywide basis" to protect UN workers. He urges nations that had not contributed to the military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq to do so, saying: "None of us can afford to stand on the sidelines". With the US toughening its response to Iraqi resistance fighters, Annan warns: "first and foremost we need to act on the recognition that the mounting insecurity problem cannot be solved through military means alone". He says the coalition forces have to intensify efforts to avoid civilian casualties, show restraint and guarantee detainees fully lawful treatment. Turning over power to Iraqis as soon as possible is necessary, he says, to "make it clear that the foreign occupation is short-lived". (Annan appears to rule out any political role for the UN in Iraq until after the coalition relinquishes power to an interim national government in mid-2004). He acknowledges "very real progress" in areas like free speech and political activity, the creation of local police services and the provision of basic services.