UN names envoy for assistance to Pakistan

NEW YORK - Ambassador Rauf Engin Soysal of Turkey was appointed Monday as a UN special envoy for Pakistan, where 20 million flood-affected people need humanitarian assistance.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Soysal has extensive diplomatic experience and in-depth knowledge of South Asia.

Soysal, a former ambassador to Islamabad, will replace French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert in the job of mobilising humanitarian assistance to Pakistan struck by natural disasters, from the earthquake in 2005 to this year’s unprecedented floods.