Indian appointed UN Assistant Secretary for peacekeeping

UNITED NATIONS: UN chief Ban Ki-moon has appointed Atul Khare of India as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations.

The new Assistant Secretary-General replaces Edmond Mulet of Guatemala, who was appointed on April 1 as special representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti for one year.

Khare, 51, served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Timor-Leste and Head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste from December 2006 to December 2009.

Earlier, he had worked as Chief of Staff, and later Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, with the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor.

During his tenure with the Indian foreign service, Khare served in France, Mauritius, Senegal, Thailand and the United Kingdom, as well as the Mission of India to the United Nations in New York.