BRUSSELS, 16/02/07 - Roeland van de Geer was appointed yesterday as EU envoy for the Great Lakes region in Africa. He succeeds the Italian Aldo Ajello, who has been the first to hold this post since 1996.

The Dutchman will work for EU foreign coordinator Javier Solana. Van de Geer will present monthly analyses to the EU foreign ministers on the region, in which countries including Congo, Rwanda and Burundi are located.

Van de Geer is currently Dutch ambassador in Afghanistan, a post he only took over recently. Previously, he has held posts including director of the Africa directorate at the foreign ministry and ambassador to Mozambique.