| Ambassador Durrani likely to be made security adviser |
 |
|
|
Saturday, March 29, 2008
By Qudssia Akhlaque
ISLAMABAD: In a telling signal of change and continuity, Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Major General (retd) Mahmud Ali Durrani will be appointed as the National Security Adviser after he relinquishes charge of his present assignment and returns to the country, it has been learnt.
PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has already given the green light for the appointment that will make room for ambassador-at-large Husain Haqqani to assume charge of Pakistan ambassador to the US, sources said.
The new government's plans for the change were conveyed to Ambassador Durrani when he was in Pakistan just a few days back.
The sources said Durrani arrived here last week on a short visit and left for Washington just a couple of days back. Durrani met Zardari and his key aides including Hussain Haqqani during his brief stay here. He also met the president and top officials of key institutions, it is learnt.
According to PPP insiders, Durrani had a good rapport with late PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto. Durrani and Ms Bhutto met and dined together when she visited Washington last year.
Durrani was appointed ambassador to the US by President Pervez Musharraf in June 2006 to abruptly replace his predecessor General (retd) Jehangir Karamat. He presented his credentials to President Bush in July 2006. His contractual appointment as ambassador expires in June this year.
According to informed sources, Haqqani will assume the charge of Pakistan's ambassador to the US once Durrani returns. It is believed that the main PPP coalition partner, the PML-N, and other allies also appear comfortable with this arrangement.
Haqqani was appointed ambassador-at-large only the other day. He will be based at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he set up his office on Friday in room 326, previously occupied by the minister of state.
Haqqani served as an advisor to three Pakistani prime ministers -- Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto -- and was appointed ambassador to Sri Lanka in 1992.
Indications are that Ambassador Durrani may be asked to move back to Pakistan before June to assume charge of his new assignment in Islamabad. Previously he served on the Governing Council of the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London from 2001 to 2004.
After retiring from the Pakistani Army, Maj Gen Durrani got actively involved in the peace efforts between Pakistan and India. Also, as part of a UN sponsored process, he worked with former senior officials from the US, Russia and Iran to find a peaceful settlement to the Afghan crisis.
Durrani has authored several books and studies, including "India and Pakistan: The Cost of Conflict and the Benefits of Peace", 'Pakistan's Security Imperatives Year 2000 and Beyond", and "Pakistan's Strategic Thinking and the Role of Nuclear Weapons" (2004).
He graduated from the Pakistan Military Academy in 1961 and held various command and instructional posts during the course of service.
He was the military secretary to President Gen Ziaul Haq from 1983 to 1986. Earlier, he served as Pakistan Defence and Military Attache in Washington from 1977 to 1982. |
|