Politics

Holbrooke Sworn In (Finally!)

August 25, 1999 / 5:10 PM EDT / AP

After more than a year's delay, Richard Holbrooke was sworn in Wednesday as the United States' ambassador to the United Nations, saying the organization was facing its greatest test in trying to keep the peace in Kosovo.

Holbrooke took the oath in his new office across the street from U.N. headquarters in New York. The swearing-in by the U.S. mission's chief administrative officer was relatively low-key, with only three other deputy ambassadors attending.

Holbrooke is expected to have a more elaborate ceremony in Washington in a few weeks, aides said.

Right after the ceremony, Holbrooke launched an initial round of meetings with top U.N. officials and Security Council ambassadors. His next task: a trip to the Balkans on Friday for a whirlwind tour of U.S., NATO and U.N. operations.

Holbrooke's trip to Kosovo, Bosnia, Albania and Macedonia is filled with symbolism: He brokered the 1995 Dayton accords that ended the 3 1/2-year war in Bosnia and later served as President Clinton's special envoy to Yugoslavia on Kosovo.

In his new job, Holbrooke will need all his negotiating skills to try to help the UN rebuild Kosovo after the 11-week NATO bombing campaign left it in economic ruin.

"The U.N. is going to be tested in Kosovo in a way it's never been tested before," Holbrooke told reporters. "Even Cambodia was not at this level of involvement, so that's why Secretary Albright asked me to go out there right away and look that over and then report back to her on Kosovo."

He also must tackle the intractable debate on Iraq and the contentious issue of Washington's payments to the United Nations. The United States is currently $1.6 billion in arrears.

Entering U.N. headquarters Wednesday morning, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany said his first priority would be sustained UN reform. Congress has set as a condition of paying off the U.S. debt.

Mr. Clinton tapped Holbrooke to replace Bill Richardson as America's U.N. envoy last year, but the nomination was stalled for 14 months as the Justice and State departments conducted ethics investigations into his business dealings. Most recently, individual Republican senators refused to act on the nomination because of various unrelated political issues.

In the interim, the U.S. has been represented at the UN by Deputy Ambassador Peter Burleigh, whose own nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines has been held up for similar political reasons.

Asked if the job was worth the wait, Holbrooke said: "I think so. I hope so."