Secretary-General Appoints Martin Kobler of Germany Special Representative, Head of United Nations Support Mission in Libya

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Martin Kobler of Germany as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

Mr. Kobler will succeed Bernardino León of Spain, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service and effective leadership of UNSMIL.  The leadership transition will take place in the coming days.

Mr. Kobler brings to this position more than 30 years of senior United Nations and foreign service experience, serving since 2013 as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).  Prior to this, he was Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) (2011-2013) and Deputy Special Representative with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) (2010-2011).

Mr. Kobler held several positions with the German Government, notably as Director-General for Culture and Communication in the Foreign Affairs Ministry and as Ambassador to Iraq and Egypt.  He was also Chef de Cabinet to former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and Deputy Chef de Cabinet.  He served as Deputy Head of the Foreign Ministry’s Balkan Task Force and established in 1994 the German representation to the Palestinian Authority in Jericho.

Mr. Kobler holds a law degree from the University of Bonn, Germany.

Born in 1953, he is married and has three children.

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* This supersedes Press Release SG/A/1412 of 10 June 2013.