4/8/2003

The irrepressible Benon Sevan is hard at work. From daylight to midnight, the down-to-earth international civil servant is going through papers, attending meetings, listening, arguing, joking, being very serious; yet always keeping his eyes and mind on the formidable task: running the Iraq Oil for Food programme.

Now that the Security Council has regained its unity to resume a key operation interrupted by war, Sevan has an additional task: to fend off against those individuals angling to maneuvre their way into influencing that cash studded venture. Particularly now that the Iraq issue is getting wide coverage, some would wish to at least share some of the limelight. So, an increasing number of characters within the Secretariat started appearing in meetings, claiming to have expert knowledge of the Middle East and expressing their views on what should be done mainly to stake a claim to being part of the "leadership team."

Handling intruders on his work area is not new to our Eastern Mediterranean pragmatist who will no doubt find his way to pushing on with his own style which clearly received consensus support by the Security Council. However, the influx of self-appointed gate-crashers will mean more time spent on less substantive issues. Yet for Benon Sevan, that is just another day of carrying more weight on his shoulder.