MALDIVES: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON FOREIGN

UNCLAS COLOMBO 001527

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS AND INR/B

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINR PREL PGOV MV
SUBJECT: MALDIVES: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON FOREIGN
SECRETARY ABDUL HAMEED ZAKARIYYA

SIPDIS

REF: COLOMBO 1470


1. As reported reftel, the Government of the Republic of
Maldives announced the appointment of Abdul Hameed Zakariyya
as Foreign Secretary on September 1. Biographic information
on Zakariyya follows below.


2. Like many of his colleagues in the small Foreign Affairs
Ministry with few overseas missions, Zakariyya has spent most
of his career (all but 18 months out of 19 years) in Male'.
He began at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1985 as an
Assistant Undersecretary, progressing steadily to Assistant
Director of External Resources (1989-1990) and Foreign
Relations (1991-1992). From 1994-1998 he held the post of
Director of Foreign Relations at the MFA. From 1998-1999 he
worked abroad at the Organization for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons (OPCW) as a political affairs officer. He
returned to Male' as the MFA's Director of International
Affairs from 1999-2001. Zakariyya was promoted to the post
of Director General of International Affairs in December
2001, a position he held until his appointment as Foreign
Secretary on September 1.

SIPDIS


3. Zakariyya, who was born in Male' on November 11, 1955,
graduated from the American University in Beirut in 1984 with
a BA in Public Administration. He also holds a Certificate
in Diploma Studies from the Graduate Institute of
International Studies in Geneva (1990-1991). He is a member
of the Foreign Investment Board in the Ministry of Trade and
Industries and Chairman of the Board of the Maldives
Industrial Fisheries Company. Married with two sons,
Zakariyya is an avid table tennis player.
LUNSTEAD