Norwegian named as new U.N. envoy to Afghanistan

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide on Thursday as his new envoy for Afghanistan, an appointment the West hopes will beef up the international presence in the war-torn country.

Eide, a former Norwegian ambassador to NATO, replaces Tom Koenigs of Germany.

Diplomats said Eide was expected to take a more prominent role in coordinating international efforts to guide reconstruction of Afghanistan in the face of a growing Taliban insurgency.

In a letter distributed to reporters at the United Nations, Ban notified the Security Council of his intention to appoint Eide. The appointment is formally subject to council approval but in practice takes effect if there are no objections.

Eide, who at one time worked as a U.N. envoy in the Balkans, will coordinate humanitarian work with the NATO-led military campaign in Afghanistan.

He became one of a handful of candidates for the sensitive post after President Hamid Karzai rejected British candidate Paddy Ashdown.

A source close to former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister John Manley, who had been viewed as another leading candidate, said Manley had spoken to Ban late last week to say he did not wish to be considered for the position.

The United States and other nations have for months sought to appoint a heavyweight diplomat to boost coordination of the international community's reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, where NATO is fighting a Taliban insurgency seven years after the militant Islamic group was ousted from power.

BROADER MANDATE?

Ashdown had sought a broader mandate for the post than Koenigs had, but Karzai turned him down following international media speculation about the extent of his powers.

Eide, 59, is known as an effective diplomat with experience in nation-building and dealing with NATO, but until now did not have a high public profile, even in Norway.

"We welcome the appointment of Kai Eide as the new U.N. Special Representative for Afghanistan," Kate Starr, White House National Security Council spokeswoman, said.

"We look forward to working with him and the U.N. mission there, as he partners with President Karzai and coordinates the international community's efforts to help Afghanistan rebuild," she said.

A diplomat from a Security Council member country said the Western powers wanted Koenigs replaced by someone who could coordinate the work of the United Nations, NATO and various other international, charity and nongovernmental organizations.

Western powers also want Eide to extend the presence of the United Nations throughout the country and to play more of an international role, communicating not only with the Afghan government but also sometimes with neighbors like Pakistan, the diplomat said.

Stein Toennesson, director of the Oslo-based International Peace Research Institute, said Eide would not tread softly in what he called "one of the world's most challenging jobs."

"If someone expects Eide to be modest in his approach, I think they will be disappointed," Toennesson told Reuters.

NATO member Norway has 500 troops in Afghanistan. Toennesson said Eide could be undermined if they became more directly involved in fighting. So far the Norwegian forces have remained in relatively peaceful northern Afghanistan.

(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau in the United Nations, Tabassum Zakaria in Washington, Alister Doyle and Wojciech Moskwa in Oslo, Mark John in Brussels and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; editing by Todd Eastham)