Additional foreign secretary Hyder to be appointed FO consultant

Islamabad, May 17 (UNI) The Pakistan government is likely to appoint its Additional Secretary to UN, Tariq Osman Hyder as consultant to the foreign office after his retirement, eports today said.

It was not immediately known why the foreign office felt the need to appoint a consultant when it has got dozens of senior officials and several think tanks to give advice on foreign policy issues, The Nation newspaper reported.

Mr Hyder, who has been given three extensions previously, is a close friend of foreign secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan and the spouses of both the senior diplomats are US citizens.

The paper claimed that Mr Hyder, in the past had faced serious difficulties during his diplomatic career owing to his alleged involvement in some objectionable activities during his postings abroad.

The Governments of Tanzania, Vietnam and Turkmenistan, for instance, did not like certain of his acts and he was recalled by Islamabad, it added.

The summary of his appointment as consultant to foreign office has been sent to the Prime Minister's Secretariat.

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