CONSEJO INTERNACIONAL DE TRATADOS INDIOS

July 22, 2002, 4:17 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS -- A senior U.N. official from Brazil, who recently

headed the U.N. mission in East Timor, will replace Mary Robinson as

head of the Human Rights Commission, the United Nations announced

Monday.

Sergio Vieira de Mello, 54, was considered the leading contender for the job after he completed his post as the U.N. administrator for East Timor in May when the tiny island nation declared independence. Vieira de Mello previously served as the U.N. representative for Kosovo and at

U.N. headquarters as the undersecretary-general for humanitarian

affairs.

"The Secretary-General ... this morning informed the General Assembly of his intention to appoint Sergio Vieira de Mello as the new high

commissioner for human rights," U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said. The

assembly was expected to approve the appointment Tuesday.

Robinson, a former Irish president who has held the U.N. job since 1997, announced in March she would step down in September even though

supporters had urged her to stay. She had indicated privately she was

willing to remain in office for three more years, and diplomats said she had support from Western Europe and many Arab and developing countries.

But U.S. officials have said Washington was less enthusiastic about her.

Robinson had angered the United States by criticizing its treatment of

detainees brought from Afghanistan to the Guantanamo Bay naval base in

Cuba, and by spearheading last year's U.N. conference on racism, which

the United States abandoned because of criticism of Israel. The

conference was largely considered a failure.

The United States and others appeared happy with Kofi Annan's choice of

Vieira de Mello.

"We welcome the secretary-general's appointment of Mr. Vieira de Mello

and look forward to working with him to promote and protect human rights around the world," U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said in a statement.

"We are very pleased with the appointment," said Jeremy Greenstock, the

British Ambassador to the United Nations. "I think he's going to prove

to be an excellent successor."

Vieira de Mello was born in Rio de Janeiro and received doctorates in

philosophy and humanities from the Sorbonne in Paris. A career U.N.

employee, Vieira de Mello served in posts in Bangladesh, Switzerland,

Sudan, Cyprus, Mozambique, Peru, Lebanon, Yugoslavia and East Timor.

In 1996, he served as the assistant high commissioner for refugees and

in 1998, he was named undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press