Moazzam Khan to be new UK high commissioner

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to appoint new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom as Special Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Moazzam Ahmad Khan is being designated for the slot.

He is the senior most diplomat in the Foreign Office presently working at the headquarters after Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood.

The sources told The News here Wednesday that the government has decided not to accord extension in service to the incumbent Nafees Zakiria who is attaining superannuation and returning to Islamabad in the second week of this month. He will report to the headquarters before calling it a day. Nafees was appointed high commissioner in London in January last year and earlier he was high commissioner for Malaysia.

Nafees Zakiria was looking for an extension in service due to various reasons but the government has decided not to oblige, the sources said. The sources indicated that Additional Secretary Americas Affairs Aftab Ahmad Khokhar and another Special Secretary for Europe Dr Aman Rashid are also among the contenders for the posting in the United Kingdom but Moazzam Ahmad Khan who had earlier served as ambassador in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is likely to be nominated as high commissioner for the United Kingdom. The new high commissioner’s appointment would be announced in due course after receipt of formal consent from the host government from London. Moazzam’s spouse Lina Ahmad Khan had also served the country as ambassador in important capitals. Moazzam Khan is currently looking after the administration in the Foreign Office, the sources added.