Dutch diplomat named top NATO civilian in Afghanistan

BRUSSELS - NATO on Tuesday named Dutchman Maurits Jochems as its next senior civilian representative in Afghanistan, replacing British ambassador Simon Gass. A statement said the current Dutch ambassador to Estonia would succeed Gass in Kabul in October and lead the transition to “a sovereign, secure and democratic Afghanistan” following the planned end-2014 troop withdrawal. “His appointment comes at a crucial time for ISAF (the 50-member International Security Assistance Force) as we continue to hand over more areas of security control to the Afghan National Security Forces,” said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.