UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has informed the Security Council that Peruvian Alvaro de Soto, seen here in 2004, will be his next Middle East peace envoy, the United Nations said in a statement(AFP/File photo)

UNITED NATIONS, May 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday appointed veteran UN negotiator Alvaro de Soto of Peru as the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.

    De Soto succeeded Terje Roed-Larsen of Norway, whose five-year term ended in December. Roe-Larsen is currently Annan's special envoy overseeing the implementation of Security Council resolution1959, which calls for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Lebanon.

    In a statement announcing the appointment, Annan noted that de Soto assumed the post at a time of renewed momentum for peace in the region and will therefore "play an essential role" in trying to help the parties sustain that pace.

    De Soto will also act as Annan's personal representative to thePalestinian Authority and his envoy to the Middle East diplomatic quartet, which comprises the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States.

    On Monday, de Soto will accompany Annan to Moscow for a workingmeeting of the quartet.

    De Soto, 62, has spent 23 years working for the UN, most recently in senior peacemaking positions. From October 2003 until this month he served as Annan's special representative for WesternSahara, a position at the level of under-secretary-general. Enditem