Malaysia Appoints Its Ambassador In Qatar As New IAEA Envoy

by **Wak** 2010-02-11, 08:24

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has appointed its ambassador in Qatar Datuk Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob as the new Governor to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Minister of Foreign Affairs Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said Muhammad Shahrul Ikram succeeded Datuk Mohd Arshad M.Hussain whose contract was scheduled to expire on March 12.

As such, Anifah denied earlier media reports that Mohd Arshad had been sacked from his post.

"It is normal process for the Government to appoint new ambassadors to replace ambassadors whose term of contract have expired in order to make way for new talents," he said in a statement here Wednesday.

Anifah said he had conveyed the appointment letter of Muhammad Shahrul Ikram to the Director-General of IAEA, Yukida Amano, on Feb 4, 2010.

Muhammad Shahrul Ikram, who is presently Malaysia's Ambassador to Qatar, is a senior diplomat with immense experience in multilateral affairs.

He was very familiar with the work of IAEA, having served as the Alternate Resident Representative of Malaysia to the Agency from 2002 to 2005, said Anifah.

Muhammad Shahrul Ikram had also served as the Under-secretary of Multilateral Political Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2007 in charge of, among others, IAEA affairs, he added.

-- BERNAMA