Yahha Maroofi, the current ambassador of Afghanistan to Scandinavien, was born on 5 March 1939 in Kabul Afghanistan where his father Mohammad Osman Pashtoon, a well-known writer and activist engaged in the freedom movements of the time struggling against colonial rule, had been appointed President of the Afghan Association of Letters and Literature.

The family returned to their home town, Kandahar, in 1943 where he spent most of his childhood and attended school. He returned to Kabul in 1959 and enrolled in Kabul University. He graduated with honors in Law and International Relations in 1963. As an honor student he had the privilege of embarking on a career of his choice and Ambassador Maroofi chose to join the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He became Deputy Director of the department in 1974 and Director in 1977, a post he held until 1979 when the Soviet backed regime seized power and threw the country in turmoil that span for over two decades.

In 1981 Ambassador Maroofi and his family left Afghanistan and were granted refuge in Switzerland. He embarked on a second career in 1983 as an international civil servant with the International Organization for Migration.

Throughout his sojourn in Switzerland, Ambassador Maroofi was active in mobilizing world public opinion in favor of Afghanistan’s struggle against foreign oppression and the plight of Afghan refugees around the world and humanitarian issues that confronted them. It was his extensive experience in international relations, love and dedication for his people and his efforts in their cause that led the President Karzai to call him personally and ask that he return to Afghanistan and once again place his services at his country’s disposal.

Ambassador Maroofi was one of several Afghans who answered the President’s call to duty and served as Minister, Advisor in International Relations to the President. He accompanied the President on numerous State Visits (France, Germany, the United States, Japan, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, India) and served in the State’s highest decision-making body as member of the National Security Council until October 2004 when designated Afghan Ambassador to Scandinavia. He presented his credentials to His Majesty King V as Resident Afghan Ambassador to Norway on 6 October 2004.

Ambassador Maroofi is married to Soraya Ludin Maroofi and they have a son named Yama and a daughter named Sabrina. Mrs. Maroofi started her career with the United Nations in Kabul and served with the Afghan Permanent Mission of Afghanistan in New York when her husband was appointed Attache to the Mission.


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The End. Oct 29, 2006