U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday appointed an experienced diplomat, Algerian Said Djinnit, to become the envoy to Africa's Great Lakes region. Djinnit replaces former Irish President Mary Robinson as special envoy after serving as the U.N. envoy for West Africa. He has held several positions in the African Union, including commissioner for peace and security. Djinnit arrives in the position after 11 countries signed an agreement last year on steps to bring peace to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The 20,000-member MONUSCO peacekeeping mission in the DRC is among the biggest U.N. operations.
