UN chief appoints Mauritanian diplomat as new Yemen envoy
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named a Mauritanian diplomat on Saturday as his envoy to Yemen, charged with trying to broker peace in the Arabian Peninsula country.
Ban notified the UN Security Council on Thursday of his intention to appoint Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to replace Jamal Benomar, a Moroccan diplomat who brokered a 2011 transition aimed at quelling political turmoil in Yemen.
The Security Council approved the selection on Saturday.
"Ould Cheikh Ahmed will work closely with the members of the United Nations Security Council, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Governments in the region and other partners, as well as the United Nations Country Team for Yemen," Ban said in a statement.
Since December Ould Cheikh Ahmed has been heading the United Nations Ebola response mission, UNMEER.
