Lakhdar Brahimi

Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi was appointed Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on 1st January 2004, advising the Secretary-General on a wide range of issues, including situations in the areas of conflict prevention and conflict resolution. He retired at the end of 2005.

Former Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (2001-2004), he was entrusted with overall authority for the political, human rights, relief, recovery and reconstruction activities of the United Nations in Afghanistan. Mr. Brahimi previously served as the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Afghanistan from July 1997 until October 1999.

In between his Afghanistan assignments, Mr. Brahimi served as Under-Secretary-General for Special Assignments in Support of the SG's Preventive and Peacemaking efforts. In this capacity, he chaired an independent panel established by SG Annan to review United Nations peace operations. The report, released by the panel in 2000 and known as the "Brahimi Report", assessed the shortcomings of the existing system of peacekeeping and made specific recommendations for change, focusing on politics, strategy and operational and organizational areas of need.

Prior to his first Afghanistan appointment, Mr. Brahimi served as Special Representative for Haiti (1994 -1996), and Special Representative for South Africa (1993-1994). In the latter position, he led the United Nations Observer Mission until the 1994 democratic elections that resulted in Nelson Mandela taking the presidency of post-apartheid South Africa. He has also undertaken special missions on behalf of the Secretary-General to a number of countries, including Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Yemen, Liberia, Nigeria and Sudan.

Mr. Brahimi was Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria from 1991 to 1993. From 1984 to 1991, he was Under-Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, and from 1989 to 1991, served as Special Envoy of the Arab League Tripartite Committee to Lebanon. Mr. Brahimi was Diplomatic Adviser to the President of Algeria (1982-1984), Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1971-1979), and Ambassador to Egypt and the Sudan, as well as Permanent Representative to the Arab League in Cairo (1963 to 1970). From 1956 to 1961, during Algeria's independence struggle, he was the National Liberation Front (FLN) representative in South-East Asia, resident in Jakarta.

Born on 1 January 1934, he is married with three children.