UNITED NATIONS - Pakistan’s new Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Masood Khan presented his credentials to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Friday, replacing Abdullah Hussain Haroon, a political appointee.

Ambassador Haroon, who served for four years, is said to have resigned three times during his tenure, citing differences with some of the government policies and interference in his work by the Foreign Office. He was finally allowed to leave the service when he tendered his resignation in July and left for home.
Haroon returned to New York when President Asif Ali Zardari paid a week-long visit to participate in the 67th session of the UN General Assembly. But he was not seen playing any part in the official engagements.
The highpoint of his assignment at the world body was Pakistan’s election to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year term, which ends in December 2013. Haroon campaigned intensively to rally support for Pakistan’s candidacy.
Ambassador Khan, a top diplomat, was until recently Pakistan’s Ambassador to China. From 2005 to 2008, he was the ambassador and permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations European Offices in Geneva.
Khan joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1980. His foreign assignments include: Third Secretary in Beijing (1984–1986), Second Secretary and First Secretary at The Hague (1986–1989) and Counsellor at United Nations New York (1993–1997) and Political Counsellor in Washington, DC (1997–2002).