SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS NEW DEPUTY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE IN KOSOVO

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today announced the appointment of Gary L. Matthews of the United States as his Principal Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).  Mr. Matthews will replace Jock Covey, who had served in the same position since the middle of 1999.

Mr. Matthews currently holds the position of Deputy High Representative and Supervisor of Brcko in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Prior to that he had served as Director of the Regional Centre in Mostar for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).  There he was responsible for OSCE programmes and its role vis à vis the Dayton Peace Accords in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the areas of human rights, democratization, elections, governance, implementation and compliance with election results, and regional military stabilization.

      Mr. Matthews, who has a Master of Arts in International Affairs from Columbia University and another in Political Science from Oklahoma State University in the 1960s, served the United States government for 30 years, with assignments in Malta, Germany, Poland, Vietnam and Russia.

He will serve in Pristina, at the level of Assistant Secretary-General.

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