PESHAWAR, May 25: A former judge of the Peshawar High Court, Justice Khalida Rachid Khan, has been elected vice-president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

A press release issued here said that during the 17th ICTR plenary session on May 21 in Arusha, Tanzania, Judge Dennis C.M. Byron (St Kitts and Nevis) was elected the president and Khalida Rachid Khan (Pakistan) the vice-president for four years.

Mr Byron replaces Judge Erik Mose (Norway) with effect from May 29. Mr Byron had joined the ICTR in June 2004 and is a member of the Trial Chamber III. Earlier, he served as the chief justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

Khalida Khan replaces Judge Arlette Ramaroson (Madagascar). She has been a judge at the tribunal since August 2003 and is presiding judge of the Trial Chamber III. Earlier, she served as a judge of the Peshawar High Court, where she was the first Pakistani woman ever appointed to that position.

She began her career as a civil judge in 1974 and later became the deputy secretary in the law department of the NWFP government.