By EuAsiaNews,
Brussels : NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced his decision here Tuesday to appoint Mark Sedwill as the new Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan.
Sedwill, who is currently the British Ambassador to Afghanistan, will take office after the London Conference on 28 January.
“Ambassador Sedwill is eminently qualified to take up this position. He knows the country, the Afghan people and the Afghan Government. He knows the region: he has been the British Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan, which is clearly a very valuable background for his new position,” Rasmussen told reporters.
Sedwill will succeed Fernando Gentilini who served as NATO’s fourth Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan from May 2008 to January 2010.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is participating in discussions on NATO’s operations in Afghanistan at the meeting of NATO’s Military Committee on the level of Chiefs of Defence.
Together with the army chiefs of all 28 NATO member states, 35 Chiefs of Defence of NATO Partner countries and Troop Contributing Nations are also attending the 2-day meeting which began here Tuesday.
In a related development, the NATO chief met a group of Senators and members of the Pakistan National Assembly representing the main political parties across the entire political spectrum here on Monday.
“During the discussion, the NATO Secretary General and the visiting parliamentarians agreed that NATO Allies and Pakistan share common threats and common interests,” noted a NATO statement.