behgjet pacolli - mgr ceo ma bet ex group EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

ACTON Secretary General Kofi Annan (MAJlpS Executive Office of the Secretary General UN Headquarters #3-3800 New York, NY 10017 USA

Lugano, the 21st of February '05 BP/sb

Your Excellency,

As you know on 28 October 2004JhjreeJUN employees assigned to the UN Mission in ^ onejgfthem JfTCSso^ 30 "Octob'ef," after having received Jess than satisfactHry"el^laHaTi67islfom representatives of the Mission in , I was contacted by the family of one of the hostages.

I subsequently went to arriyjng there_on 6 November. I immediately^asked for a meeting with your representatives believing thaFan exchange of information was important. Between 6 and 12 November, when I finally met briefly with representatives from the UN „ y^TTJr^ ,-u.-Tf-_ - ^ -rrjjij j^-j ^n.^.tj.-.-.^.^.rr-^vM.j^n.i.v-Tr- • iv-ti' jrvii i^TOWmn*—«LHT*-LVL^-i>J0«-Bt-**"*'*':il*>—"""~'^*~~"'^"''^'^™'1^*-"'^"*~^*'0&n-«^i.cW7^i>JM^ws^ *»«i«*<« «»wra-u. Mission,_l_sp_oke_witfj f h six AfghanJWimstriesg , had aj]^^i£ncej/v[th^ The^Khig^and^jreceiveM ftr d considerable supporTfronTWe local W"Statiori and numerous other pTivatelndividualsrbne of _—— —•-*-«*ft. «. - ...—ij*^^,^»..«r^^ .-»9t -^-^-^-"-^-««*'««™'»"^^^ "••*•.."«.•. IJ...H ™—-—.y»*—• ^«^«^^^^-<-~ .- t »««-*w:*»'je^ iw'.*. who3 m walB sJ w able to >rforganizb i e a meeting in Peshawar with representativeT T Wt s ofr the hostage takers.

The meeting that I h^dh/vithjfour representatives on IgJJQvernbejLwasi both brjef and less than_.s.ubstantive. TrTeNTwere a Mr. Kabir. and a^ Mr. Manuel. Mr. Manuel, a Brazilian, indicated that he was the local UN Spokesman. I ^erged_from my^mejetina with your lepjesentatives conyinced that_n_gthing. was being^ done, at least irLKabu^is-a-vis atternpting Jo_obtain the release of the^ hostages. Nothing that happened in the da^sntliaTToTiowed caused me to in"a1i"7way"rnodify this assessment.

On 14 November, two days after• rny rneeting_with the UN Jjij/as_ askedjo^gojo Peshawar ^to^meet with representatives~oFThe hostage-takers. The meeting was scheduled for 16 "ITovemBeTrCE^^ UN of this P[ojected_rneeting. I was informed by a / UN representative in Kabuf that everyone fromlhe U"N hia"d left the countryr —-'---•—»--~».—..o subsequently met with representatives of the hostage takers on 16 and 17 November. M 1 ?$?•"" " * . .«».-.•.... ' - . •—• ..._•-.»-.• •:-.:'•".-• •••-. .i.-.-~t-- "'"*••*-...-._._, . arm---*!—s«^Sc'r«4^«*:i^^T1^-i^v.^^..-'T.-s«-*«r*^.-j^.-iTs^ UN lJ<.-*-.^-«Ji-; (*1 '-- rerarneoll" o Kabul on 20"November and —«•—ajainJtriejLjgJnfor• ••~-*^**=*~>'™-<='-^.«»Jv.^»w,r*^,v,-jm the wha^t^ was happening. I SOM j jvasjjeb.y|ffed. did however meet with the Minister of the Interior who detailed members or his office to work with me.

On the morning of 22 November I was informed that I needed to return to Peshawar to meet again with representatives of the hostage takers. At this meeting I was informed that the hostages would be released on the following day. I returned to Kabul late in the evening of 22 November and immediately informed the Interior Minister and tried again to notify the UN. ___J^Q§PJLQJLt!3^^ I Ie.S®i^!:£Lj^ hostages had been given a car and haB beeri reieased~ and that they werelrTthe vicinity of the f 1 r _-^ Unite. .^j^-...— •*J,*n.ud Nation'----'-*-**~.r:jux8s itOffices,iriJCaJiJjLJ,.;,^- ii;nM«l: Jt^K^av-3»ii*.l^flw^--N-V««a-J*n;L illW'*»-"* ~-'*'*l •'*•-*''l'''--T ~, «^...... i'7i|,ssf.vM—•—— - «. « , ,.,,^«=v,,,«.^- ^ ~- .—.

Followmgjherelease of the hostages I was jnyited to_attend ^meeting hosted by thej\/linister ~15f^eJnteFor7^Fre^T^rwais"M waTvisTbly surprisedlo"seTWi'eriTe-appeared to have in his possession letters addres^eonr6~t11e"fi^ BeerTklil make it abundantly clear that |_am not_seeking anv sgjrtjD^recjDgmtionJFor the^rpje that I played that resulted in the release of the hostages. I simply did wfiaTl thougnT "needed ^__«_»^u^i^|.,,^-*«»-t"*^i~^^xi-fctirfi.^-i»|^«WiJi^J*"v\^v-^*^fo be done andgivewa.^^ n similar circumstance| I s 1| woulI I d| probabl,i y d,o |_ • the sam• e |thing again. I

^ understan______..m.friHi d at the same time tha•^-*B-t—- ~Governmenta" **""*^J~rt^^«««K«»*^*^'*l**^*l nOrganizations«C»*flSw^^ , like the United Nations, do not negotiate with hostage takers. I suppose to that extent I enjoy a degree of flexibility as I am WWr S V to ' ^-~-*no" - ...... t s. --o— 1W,.-.... constrained. ---- ^4V^-*.-l^-'~'' .'^ " -'^ -~.y^*-JV~M^^^ ^_..^ta,^.,_^>-M.^..,U- L^-:w. ,-.,„,.„„..„

While on the one hand I understand the reticence of the United Nations to talk with me, presumably because of the perception of being party to negotiations, at the same time, it is interesting to note as I have already indicated that I received all manner of assistance from i >aj:- everyon...l". e«*!—&_,_ with ; »..^thIe,aj^^^ exceptioi.«^,^_^M.J»^-»-iM.f^M.<.^^Y';'i--;-n of the UN"—. -'Ar --^a^-'iBlo^'N gave— '«.-n.~.™-the dea;---- - ,,.._x,r impressio. -- ,,j,.w_^.r <-l^«nm«,_«n»f".'»Sl»..« of being— VJ»«mor— -I--e. «»* -ij-?,,,-,™-c,- -^:L - .. i>o»»'~»»«wi^-W'-j'a--«''»»«-=1-»1J»**''lfeui"!*~ ° I" a concerned vis-a-viS s the well-being of the hostages than anyone that I met in your organization.

emerge from my experience Jh§_s§n[gj[..yj^ ^f||c^rswith whom I came in contact. It seems to me that the employees of 4 1 1 i : 1 w vl a K; r s fla:a th.. e IU |M~"N deserv7 ~ ' e ubetter ^^' '' '^''''~'~". ' '""^^'"'''^' ''™ ''^ ^'~^'.'« "' ^^ * iESiw^ _., .

Behgjet Pacolli