SecGen to appoint Michael Williams as UN Special Coordinator for Middle East peace process – SecGen letter to SecCo President

                        Letter dated 15 May 2007 from the Secretary-General to the President of the Security Council

I wish to inform the Security Council of my intention to appoint Michael C. Williams as the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and my Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, succeeding Alvaro de Soto. He will act as my Envoy to the Quartet, and do all possible to support the momentum towards peace. He will, therefore, divide his time between the region and Headquarters.

Mr. Williams served as a senior official in United Nations peacekeeping missions in Cambodia and the former Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1996. He was Special Adviser to two British Foreign Secretaries, Robin Cook and Jack Straw, from 1999 to 2005. He was appointed Special Adviser on the Middle East by Kofi Annan in August 2006.

It is my intention that the new Special Coordinator should be guided by the principles set out in relevant Security Council resolutions and the road map framework for peace put forward by the Quartet, as endorsed by the Security Council in its resolution 1515 (2003).

Mr. Williams’ functions and responsibilities will include coordination of all United Nations activities on the ground related to the Middle East peace process, with the aim of ensuring that the United Nations contribution is fully integrated and coordinated. As the Special Coordinator, Mr. Williams will represent me at all meetings and in all structures involving the parties and the international community and provide political guidance to the United Nations system.

(Signed) Ban Ki-moon

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