May 22, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 19,1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, May 21: Senior diplomat Riaz Mohammad Khan is unlikely to be appointed Pakistan’s high commissioner to India, official sources told Dawn on Wednesday.

He would not be recalled from Beijing where he was posted less than a year ago, they added.

“Despite his competence Islamabad would not pull out Riaz Mohammad Khan from China which is the highest priority country for Pakistan as it would send a wrong message to Beijing that Islamabad was attaching more importance to another country,” a highly-placed source said.

Mr Khan’s name was reportedly the first on the list of candidates submitted by the foreign office to Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali. The confusion was caused by what is now being dubbed as the “accidental” mention of his name.

The normal procedure for selecting an ambassador is that the foreign office officials suggest the names, which are sent to the foreign minister and then submitted to the chief executive.

The prime minister mentioned Mr Khan’s name when the Doordarshan interviewer pointed out Pakistan’s slowness in appointing a high commissioner to New Delhi.

Mr Jamali who got the list and had some discussion with the foreign secretary had taken the name as “Insha Allah” the most likely person to be sent to New Delhi.

This statement acquired finality when the PTV announced the name in its news bulletin on Saturday. The foreign office had to issue a clarification on behalf of the government indicating that a final choice had not been made.

Meanwhile, the two likely candidates in the run are Aziz Ahmad Khan, the foreign office spokesman, and Mr Inamul Haque, former foreign minister and foreign secretary. Mr Khan is due for retirement in three months.