UN Secretary General Kofi Annan named the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello, as his special representative for Iraq for four months. Annan announced his choice in letters to the presidents of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council which were released by his spokesman's office. The council asked Annan to appoint a special representative when it lifted the 13-year-old economic sanctions on Iraq on Thursday and endorsed wide-ranging powers for the US-led occupying forces in that country. It is standard practice for the council to confirm an appointment by writing to Annan to say that its members have taken note of his choice. Writing to Assembly President Jan Kavan, Annan described the four-month appointment of Vieira de Mello as "unusual". There was nothing in his letter to suggest that Vieira de Mello would remain in Iraq after that. In New York, Human Rights Watch said Vieira de Mello was "a great choice for this post," but it expressed concern that his four-month assignment might adversely affect his job as human rights commissioner. "It is essential that a vacuum not be left" at the High Commissioners office, HRW executive director Kenneth Roth said. "A temporary replacement will never have the clout that is needed to fill this critical role." Annan said he had selected Vieira de Mello because of "his unique experience in serving the United Nations in post-conflict situations in the past." In June 1999, Annan sent Vieira de Mello to Kosovo, where he spent three months as the province's temporary administrator after the arrival of NATO troops. Almost immediately after handing over in Kosovo to the former French minister of health, Bernard Kouchner, Vieira de Mello went to East Timor to head the UN peacekeeping mission and in that role steered the territory to independence on May 20, 2002. The deputy high commissioner for human rights, Bertie Ramcharan, will be officer-in-charge during Vieira de Mello's absence, Annan wrote. In Paris, a foreign ministry spokesman said "Mr. Vieira de Mello has an essential task before him" and "France's support will not be lacking." He had shown "great qualities" as chief administrator in Kosovo and in East Timor as well as in the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights, the spokesman said. Born in Rio de Janeiro, on March 15, 1948, Vieira de Mello, is a UN veteran who has worked with the organisation since his days as a philosophy student in Rio de Janeiro and the Sorbonne University in Paris. Roth welcomed the appointment, saying "protecting human rights is essential for successfully rebuilding Iraq and Mr. Vieira de Mello will bring his experience of the top human rights post to this important role." The job of the special representative to Iraq, outlined in Resolution 1483, includes working with the occupying powers "to facilitate a process leading to an internationally recognized, representative government of Iraq." The official will also represent the UN on the international advisory board to be set up to audit a new Development Fund for Iraq, which will use the country's oil revenues for economic reconstruction as well as to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people. **PHOTO CAPTION*** UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello. (AFP/file/Martial Trezzini)