Former Timor head named U.N. rights chief

De Mello, a veteran U.N. diplomat, says the new job is a "political minefield"

UNITED NATIONS -- The former head of the United Nations administration in East Timor has been named as the new head of U.N. High Commission for Human Rights.

Brazilian-born Sergio Vieira de Mello, a veteran U.N. official, was named by Secretary General Kofi Annan to take up the post on Monday, succeeding former Irish President Mary Robinson.

His nomination for the position will go before the 189-member General Assembly Tuesday and is not expected to be contested.

Since its creation in 1994 the job has been one the most controversial high profile positions in the United Nations.

Robinson, who has held the job for the past five years, has received both praise and criticism from human rights groups -- the latter when her office has failed to speak out over particularly high profile cases.

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Her stance has also brought her into confrontation with such countries as China, Russia and the United States, all of whom have come in for criticism over their human rights records.

Speaking to Reuters after the announcement, de Mello described the job as "a minefield", albeit one he was looking forward to entering.

"My life has been a succession of minefields, not theoretical but very real," he told the news agency.

"So that does not worry me. It is the risk of politicization and how to manage that, how to ensure that human rights are not over politicized," he said. "I've had 32 years of dealing with complex situations."

For two years until May 2002, de Mello headed up the U.N.'s transitional administration in East Timor, overseeing the former Indonesian territory's transition to independence.

The mission was widely praised by diplomats as one of the United Nation's most successful.

He left the territory shortly after the formal independence ceremony on May 20.