Annan picks Pakistani ambassador as new envoy to Iraq

Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Ashraf Jehangir Qazi will head the United Nations mission in Iraq, U.N. officials announced Monday.

Qazi, who has served nearly 20 years as a Pakistani diplomat, has been assigned to diplomatic postings in numerous countries, including Britain, China, Egypt, Libya and Russia as well as in Japan, where he served as a counselor from 1978-1981.

The 62-year-old was handpicked from a short list of possible candidates by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to become his special representative to Iraq.

Qazi was selected for the position in Baghdad, which has been empty since a bombing last August at the U.N. offices in Baghdad killed 22 people, including the head of the U.N. mission, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

The United States welcomed Qazi's appointment and pledged to support his mission in Iraq.

"We welcome it. We look forward to working with him at the United Nations, as we have worked with him in Washington as Pakistan's ambassador," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at a regular press briefing in Washington.

"It's certainly, we think, an important development for the United Nations to have a special envoy of the secretary general working on Iraq," Boucher said. "We'll do everything possible to support his efforts, to work with him and the Iraqi government, and also to take care of things like assisting them with security and other areas like that where the multinational forces might be of assistance."

The Pakistani ambassador was chosen over two other candidates, former Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan and former Indian Foreign Secretary Salman Haidar.

Qazi is expected to report to New York within the next week or two for debriefings and consultations with senior U.N. officials.

His deployment to Iraq, however, is contingent upon the restoration of a stable and secure situation in the country which has been marred by frequent bouts of violence and instability.

Sourcve: Agencies