A veteran career diplomat has been appointed Pakistan’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Muhammad Naeem Khan, who served as additional foreign secretary until now and as spokesman for Pakistan's foreign office, will arrive in Riyadh early next month to take up his new assignment. “The Saudi government has accorded consent for the appointment of Khan, who is a thorough professional and workaholic,” said Ayaz Muhammad Khan, charge d'affaires at the Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh. Ayaz said Khan is an outstanding diplomat of Pakistan and will have an audience with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari before he leaves for Riyadh. Khan has also served as Pakistani ambassador to the Philippines. The new ambassador, who holds a Master’s degree in international relations, joined Pakistan’s foreign service in Oct. 1982. He has held various diplomatic assignments in Pakistani missions abroad including Madrid, Sanaa, Washington and Beijing. The Pakistan Embassy has been one of the few Asian missions, including the Philippines and Nepal, which have been functioning without a full-fledged ambassador for several months. The ambassador's post fell vacant after Khan's predecessor Umar Khan Ali Sherzai was refused an extension when his contractual tenure ended in Oct. 2010. Asked about Ishtiaq Andrabi, whose initial appointment as Pakistani Ambassador to Saudi Arabia a few months back was mired in controversy, Ayaz confirmed his government had reversed its decision. Andrabi, a career foreign service officer, was designated Pakistan’s envoy to the Kingdom by former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmud Qureshi, said reports. Upon Qureshi's departure from the Pakistan's Foreign Office, Andrabi, who was about to leave Islamabad after meeting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari a few months back, was politely asked by Pakistani government not to go to Riyadh. Arab News .com 20/06/2011

Ulrik Federspiel is Denmark's Ambassador to the United States. After his military service in the Royal Danish Navy in Greenland, Ulrik Federspiel was educated at the University of Aarhus where he graduated in political science and at the University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia where he received the John Boyer Memorial Scholarship and earned his Master's degree in international relations. In 1971, Ulrik Federspiel joined the Danish Foreign Service assigned to EC-matters. He was posted in London in 1977 as First Secretary for political affairs. In 1981, he was appointed Special Assistant to the Permanent Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Copenhagen. In 1984, he became Deputy Chief of Mission at the Danish Embassy in Washington, D.C. In 1989, he returned to Denmark to work with the Foreign Minister and a Foreign Service Commission in reorganizing the Ministry. Upon completion of the reorganization in 1991, the government appointed Mr. Federspiel Permanent Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Deputy Secretary of State) and in 1993, the Prime Minister appointed him his Chief of Staff that included serving as Secretary to Her Majesty the Queen in the Council of Ministers. He served as chairman of various Government committees, including the EU-Summit Committee. In 1997, Ulrik Federspiel became Ambassador to Ireland and in 2000 Ambassador to the United States of America.