Terje Rød-Larsen

Rød-Larsen came to wide international prominence as a key figure in the 1990s negotiations that led to the Oslo Accords—the first-ever agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)—when he served as the Director of the Fafo institute.

[5] Rød-Larsen then returned to the United Nations, where he again became an Under-Secretary-General, serving as the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority from 1999 to 2004.

When serving as the Director of the Fafo institute in the early 1990s, Rød-Larsen became a key figure in the 1990s negotiations that led to the Oslo Accords -- the first-ever agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

He served a pivotal role in the negotiations not only overtly, but in secret back-channel maneuvers and communications -- largely arranged and facilitated by him and his wife, Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul.

In 9/9/1999, Rød-Larsen was appointed as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's personal representative to the PLO and Palestinian Authority on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

[8] He subsequently left the post in 2004 to become President of the International Peace Academy, a NYC-based think tank, and was also designated as UN Special Representative (Date of Appointment : 3/1/2005) for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for Syrian withdrawal of Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Rød-Larsen was sent by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Lebanon and Israel to follow up on the implementation of the cease-fire resolution, the United Nations announced on 16 August 2006.