Hédi Annabi

Hédi Annabi (4 September 1943 – 12 January 2010) was a Tunisian diplomat and Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). He was previously an Assistant-Secretary-General at the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, from 1997 to 2007.

Annabi died in the 2010 Haiti earthquake in which the MINUSTAH headquarters in Port-au-Prince collapsed.

Early life and education Annabi was born on 4 September 1943. He received a degree in political science from the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, a degree in English language and literature from the University of Tunis, and a master's degree (diplôme) in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Institut universitaire de hautes études internationales et du developpement) in Geneva.

Career Prior to joining the United Nations, Annabi was a member of Tunisia's Foreign Service, where he served as diplomatic adviser to the Prime Minister before being appointed chairman and general manager of the National News Agency (Agence Tunis Afrique Presse) in 1979. His tenure at the agency lasted until 1981.

Annabi joined the United Nations in February 1981.

Death Immediately following the earthquake of 12 January 2010, Annabi was reported to be missing after the UN headquarters in Haiti, the Christopher Hotel in Port-au-Prince, collapsed. Although later prematurely confirmed dead by President René Préval, he was still reported as missing until 16 January 2010.

On 16 January 2010, Annabi was confirmed by the UN Mission in Haiti to have died, after his body was recovered from the rubble of buildings in Port-au-Prince. In confirming 22 UN peacekeepers dead from the collapse, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, in a statement issued by his spokesperson, that he was “deeply saddened” to confirm the deaths of his Special Representative to Haiti, Hédi Annabi, as well as his Deputy Luiz Carlos da Costa and Acting Police Commissioner Doug Coates of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “In every sense of the word, they gave their lives for peace,” he said. The Secretary-General characterized Annabi as a “true citizen of the world” for whom the UN was his life.