ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf appointed Ijaz Mukhtar as chairman of the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), officials at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat told Dawn on Sunday.

They said a notification about the matter was issued on Friday.

Before the appointment, Mr Mukhtar served as member (science) and director general in the same organisation. The prime minister made the new appointment because incumbent chairman of the KRL, Karim Ahmed, is retiring on March 31 after availing two extensions of two years each.

A senior official of the KRL told Dawn that under rules of the organisation its chairman could get only two extensions of two years each.

A senior official of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat confirmed the appointment of Mr Mukhtar as head of the KRL and termed it a ‘routine appointment’.