Massoud Khalili
| Masood Khalili | |
|---|---|
| Afghanistan Ambassador to Spain | |
|
Assumed office 2010 |
|
| President | Hamid Karzai |
| Preceded by | Gul Ahmad Sherzada |
| Afghanistan Ambassador to Turkey | |
|
In office 2007–2010 |
|
| President | Hamid Karzai |
| Succeeded by | Salahuddin Rabbani |
| Afghan Ambassador to India | |
|
In office 2001–2006 |
|
| President | Hamid Karzai |
| Succeeded by | Sayed Makhdoom Raheen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Parwan Province, Afghanistan |
| Nationality | Afghan |
| Political party | Jamiat-i Islami |
| Occupation | Ambassador |
Masood Khalili, also Massoud Khalili and Masud Khalili (Persian: مسعود خلیلی; born 5 November 1950) is an Afghan diplomat, linguist and urbane poet. Khalili is the son of the famous Dari language and Afghan poet laureate, Ustad Khalilullah Khalili. In the war against the Soviets from 1980 to 1990, he was the political head of the Jamiat-i-Islami Party of Afghanistan and close advisor to Commander Ahmad Shah Masood. In the internal conflict that followed, he chose to be the Special Envoy in Pakistan to President Burhannudin Rabbani. Deported from the same country for his high rank in the Northern Alliance, he went to New Delhi in 1996 as the Ambassador of the Afghanistan (Anti-Taliban) where he stayed for many years. He was non-resident Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Nepal at the same time.
On September 9, 2001, Ambassador Khalili was sitting next to Commander Massoud when two men posing as journalists set off a bomb placed in their camera. Commander Massoud was assassinated and Ambassador Khalili survived. Two days later, Al Qaeda Attacked America.
After his recovery, he was made the Ambassador of Afghanistan to Turkey and he is currently the first Afghan Ambassador to Spain. You can find further information about him by visiting his official website or official Facebook page.
Khalili is the son of the famous Persian language poet, and Persian poet laureate, Ustad Khalilullah Khalili. Born in Jabal Saraj, Parwan Province in Afghanistan, Massoud Khalili grew up in Kabul where his father taught at Kabul University. As a student he reportedly spent 5 years in India. Khalili got his BA in Delhi College and MA from Kirori Mal College in the 70s.
Khalili was a friend and adviser to Ahmad Shah Massoud, resistance commander known as the "Lion of Panjshir" against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979–1989), defense minister of Afghanistan (1992–2001) and leader of the United Front (Northern Alliance) against the Taliban.
Khalili and Massoud met for the first time in October 1978 after the communist Saur Revolution had overthrown the government of Mohammed Daoud Khan. Khalili remembers:
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Wikipedia