NEW YORK, Jul 17 (APP):High tributes were paid to the outstanding services rendered by Imtiaz Hussain Malik, a former senior Pakistani diplomat who died of a heart attack earlier this month in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic where he was working for the United Nations peacekeeping mission, at an online commemoration ceremony organized by the Pakistan Mission to the UN on Thursday.
Leading the tributes, Ambassador Munir Akram said that Malik, who was chief of a regional office of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Central African Republic (MINUSCA), worked with him during his tenures at the Pakistani missions in Geneva and in New York where the late diplomat handled multiple issues and distinguished himself as a good practitioner of multilateral diplomacy.
“I am deeply grieved over his passing … it is a great loss,” the Pakistani envoy said.
Among those participating in the event were: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Asad Majeed Khan; Ambassador to the UN European offices in Geneva, Khalil Hashmi, Ambassador to Canada, Bashir Raza Tarar; Ambassador to Thailand, Asim Iftikhar; former Ambassador to France, Ghalib Iqbal; Acting High Commissioner in New Delhi, Syed Haider Shah; former Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua; Ambassador to Cuba, Sahibzada Ahmad Khan; President of the UN Staff Recreation Pakistan Club, Irfan Soomro, and Denise Brown, acting head of MINUSCA.
Expressing their sorrow, the speakers called Malik a competent officer with a sharp mind, a tough negotiator and a great friend, all rolled into one.
The deceased’s daughter, Bazela Malik, also spoke from her home about the tragic loss and its impact on the family that he cared for with devolution.
The event, which began with recitation from the holy Quran, was moderated by Syed Rafiuddin Shah, a senior UN official who heads the Policy Division of the World Body’s Office of Counter-Terrorism.
In his concluding remarks, Rafia Shah especially spoke about Malik’s devotion to his assignments, saying he kept the flag flying for Pakistan and for the UN.
The event ended with dua for the departed soul led by Ambassador Sahibzada Ahmad Khan.
