Dutch diplomat seen as next U.N. Mideast envoy (Reuters) November 29, 2007
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Dutch diplomat Robert Serry is expected to be named as next U.N. Middle East envoy, a post that has been vacant for three months, U.N. diplomats said on Wednesday.
Senior envoys from two countries, who asked not to be identified because no announcement has yet been made, said Serry, currently Dutch ambassador to Ireland, was in line for the job.
Serry, 57, headed the Middle East section at the Dutch foreign ministry from 1986-92. Following several other diplomatic posts he was NATO deputy assistant secretary general for crisis management and operations from 2001 to 2005, when he moved to Dublin.
The last U.N. Middle East envoy, Michael Williams of Britain, held the post for just three months before taking up a similar appointment with the British government.
Williams' predecessor, Alvaro De Soto of Peru, quit in May expressing frustration at what he called a pro-Israeli and pro-U.S. bias by the U.N. leadership.
The U.N. diplomats said they did not know when a formal announcement of the new envoy's appointment would be made.