The United Nations announced today, Monday, the appointment of a new Representative of its Secretary-General in Iraq. A statement by the organization stated that: "Secretary-General António Guterres appointed "Mohammed Al-Hassan" from the Sultanate of Oman as his Special Representative in Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). Al-Hassan's appointment to the position comes as a replacement for the Dutch "Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert", who held the position for the past five years, after the end of her mission last May. Among many high-level positions, Al-Hassan held the position of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Sultanate of Oman to the Russian Federation and at the same time non-resident Ambassador to Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia and Moldova. Al-Hassan also previously held the position of Deputy Permanent Representative of the Sultanate of Oman to the United Nations in New York. Prior to that, he held the position of Deputy Permanent Representative of Oman to the United Nations in Geneva. Al-Hassan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Washington in Seattle, USA, a Master of Science degree in International Relations from St. John's University in New York, USA, and a PhD in Economics from Moscow State University State Institute of Economics, Statistics and Informatics (MESI) in Moscow, Russia. He speaks Arabic, English, Norwegian and Russian. Source: National Iraqi News Agency