Ban appoints experienced official as Assistant Secretary-General for peacekeeping

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appointed Atul Khare of India as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations.

Mr. 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 earlier this month appointed as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Haiti for one year.

Announcing the appointment, Mr. Ban said Mr. Khare served the UN with distinction in Timor-Leste from December 2006 to December 2009. He had earlier worked in the country 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, Mr. Khare served in the Indian Foreign Service and worked in his country’s missions in France, Mauritius, Senegal, Thailand and the United Kingdom and in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN.

The Secretary-General expressed his gratitude to Mr. Mulet, saying he had successfully led the Office of Operations in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations since September 2007.