US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1527

UNCLAS COLOMBO 001527 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINR, PREL, PGOV, MV, Maldives, current biographies 
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