France appoints special envoy for Pakistan, Afghanistan
July 18th, 2009 - 6:23 pm ICT by IANS
- Paris, July 18 (IANS) France has named Thierry Mariani as its special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, a media report said Saturday.
The 50-year-old diplomat, a member of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing ruling party, will replace Pierre Lellouche, who was elevated to become minister for Europe last month, the Online news agency reported.
He is expected to oversee the French government’s initiatives in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Mariani has contacts in Central Asia through his role in French lawmakers’ outreach groups for Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia, the report said.
France has around 3,000 troops as part of the NATO-led forces in Afghanistan.
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