Syed Hassan Raza

His Excellency / Tuan Yang Terutama Syed Hassan Raza
سید حسن رضا
Amb. Syed Hassan Raza, 2013
High Commissioner of Pakistan to Malaysia
Incumbent
Assumed office February 27, 2014
President	Mamnoon Hussain
Prime Minister	Nawaz Sharif
Preceded by	Shahid M. G. Kiani
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Pakistan to State of Qatar
In office April 2, 2013 – February 26, 2014
President	Asif Ali Zardari Mamnoon Hussain
Prime Minister	Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Nawaz Sharif
Preceded by	Sarfraz Khanzada
Personal details
Born	(1959-01-04) January 4, 1959 Lahore, Pakistan
Alma mater	St. Anthony's High School (Lahore) Columbia University (M.A.) University of the Punjab Government College, Lahore
Profession	Diplomat

Syed Hassan Raza (Urdu:سید حسن رضا) (born 4 January 1959) is a Pakistani diplomat and a career foreign service officer. He is the current High Commissioner of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Malaysia. Prior to his appointment to Malaysia, he was the ambassador of Pakistan to the State of Qatar.^[1][2]

Early life and education

Raza was born on January 4, 1959 in Lahore, Pakistan. His father Syed Iftikhar Ahmed was a lawyer of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Deputy Attorney General of Pakistan from 1978 to 1984. He attended the prestigious St. Anthony's High School (Lahore) and later, the University of the Punjab, Lahore to study Law, Political Science & Government. Later in 1989, he attended Columbia University in New York City, where he studied International Affairs, South Asian studies, Human Rights and International Law.

Diplomatic career

He joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1986, belonging to the 14th common. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Headquarters in Islamabad, his first assignments included serving as the desk officer for the United Nations and subsequently for Afghanistan. He also served as an assistant legal adviser for international law and treaties. From 2009 to 2013 he was appointed as the Director-General Economic Coordination & FODP (Friends of Democratic Pakistan) divisions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Pakistan), Islamabad.

His foreign diplomatic assignments include working as a political officer in the Office of the UN Special Representative for Somalia, Admiral Jonathan Howe in Mogadishu, from 1993 to 1994, at the height of the country's civil war. It was during his stay when the Battle of Mogadishu took place on 3 and 4 October 1993. He was then posted to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan at the Embassy of Pakistan from 1995 to 1998. He returned to work in the Central Asia region from 2001 to 2003 as the deputy Head of Mission at the embassy of Pakistan in Almaty, Kazakhstan. In 2003 he was posted to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as the deputy Consul General of Pakistan and concurrently represented Pakistan to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) until 2005. In 2005 he joined the OIC as an advisor to the OIC secretary-general, Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, on political and legal affairs. He worked in the OIC for three years, on various issues such as the reform and restructure of the organization, including its new Charter. He left the OIC in 2009 to return back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Headquarters at Islamabad.

He served as the D-8 (Developing-8) commissioner of Pakistan^[3] from 2009 until his appointment as Pakistan’s ambassador to Qatar.^[4] Ambassador Raza is married with two sons.^[5]

References

• "Pakistanis raise concerns over passports at open day". The Peninsula. August 2, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.