By IANS,
United Nations: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Atul Khare, a former Indian Foreign Service officer, as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations.
Khare, a former Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Timor-Leste and head of the UN Integrated Mission there (UNMIT), replaces Edmond Mulet of Guatemala, who was last month appointed as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Haiti for one year.
Announcing the appointment Friday, Ban said Khare served the UN with distinction in Timor-Leste from December 2006 to December 2009.
He had earlier worked as the Chief of Staff and later as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General with the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET).
Before joining the UN, Khare worked in India’s missions in France, Mauritius, Senegal, Thailand and the United Kingdom and in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN.
Ban expressed his gratitude to Mulet, saying he had successfully led the Office of Operations in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations since September 2007.