Kabul appoints Foreign Ministry spokesperson as new envoy to Islamabad

New ambassador will deal with important developments, including PM's visit to Kabul: diplomatic sources in Islamabad


Tahir Khan November 16, 2013
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Janan Mosazai. PHOTO: AFGHAN FOREIGN MINISTRY

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan appointed its Foreign Ministry spokesperson Janan Mosazai as ambassador to Pakistan  on Saturday, revealed Afghan Foreign Ministry sources in Kabul and diplomats in Islamabad.

Mosazai, a young but seasoned diplomat, has replaced Umer Daudzai who was appointed Interior Minister in September.

He will assume his new position in Pakistan at a time when relations between the two countries face many challenges.

"I can confirm that Janan Mosazai has been designated as Afghanistan ambassador to Pakistan," an Afghan official told The Express Tribune. The official did not want his identity to be revealed. He also said that President Hamid Karzai has approved a summary from the Foreign Ministry.

Diplomatic sources in Islamabad told The Express Tribune that the new ambassador is likely to arrive in Islamabad later this month as the Afghan embassy has to deal with important developments including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to Kabul.

A delegation of the Afghan High Peace Council is also planned to visit Islamabad to meet the senior Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

Nawaz had agreed in the London trilateral summit last month to allow members of the peace council to visit Pakistan and meet the senior Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Baradar, whose release is still a mystery.

Mosazai is familiar with Pakistan as he has accompanied President Karzai and Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministers in several recent visits.

The newly appointed ambassador to Pakistan stated at his weekly press briefing in Kabul on November 10 that the killing of the late Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone strike and the appointment of Mullah Fazalullah as TTP’s new leader will not affect Islamabad’s commitment to Afghan peace process.

Mosazai has served as a freelance journalist and civil society activist in Kabul. He formerly worked as a political affairs officer with the United Nations in Afghanistan.

He also contested for the National Assembly “Wolesi Jirga” in 2010 election for a Kabul constituency but could not win the seat.

Born on March 21, 1980 in Kabul, he got his primary education in Kabul and continued his higher studies in Bishkek, where he studied political science and international relations.

He migrated to Canada, where he got his Masters in Journalism at Carleton University, Ottawa in 2010.

COMMENTS (8)

Zalmai | 10 years ago | Reply

Janan Musazai maybe young but he is already a seasoned diplomat due to the learning curve he had to endure as a spokesman for the foreign ministry. A good choice by the Afghans.

@Abbas

Karzai never lived in the US, his brothers did. Afghanistan was never colonized, so you are correct about it not being a commomwealth state.

Afg | 10 years ago | Reply

Hina rabbbani kharr recently remained as foreign minister and she was young too, when most your ministers were and are british nationals why he cannnot be as abbasador ... according national constituation of AFghanistan abbassadors can have dual nationality.

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