MOTTAGHI APPOINTED NEW ABU SEC-GEN

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 (Bernama) -- Director of the Asia-Pacific Institute for
Broadcasting Development (AIBD), Javad Mottaghi, has been appointed the next
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) secretary-general.

The decision was made by the ABU administrative council after a meeting here
last Friday. However, the effective date has yet to be decided.

Mottaghi, 54, succeeds David Astley, who would be leaving the organisation
at the end of June after holding the post for eight years, ABU said in a
statement here Monday.

Mottaghi, an Iranian, headed AIBD since August 1998 and has 30 years of
national and international experience in media and communications.

He served Iran's national broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
(IRIB), in various capacities from 1978 to 1996, notably in the fields of
sports, production and news.

He was the director of IRIB's Radio and TV Sports Department for 18 years.
He also held the directorships of the Foreign Bureau and International Relations
Department, TV Social Department and News Department, and was advisor to the
IRIB president.

The statement also said that Mottaghi had long been active in ABU
activities. He was IRIB's liaison officer for both the ABU and the European
Broadcasting Union until 1996.

He was a member of the ABU administrative council for three years and
chairman of the ABU Sports Group, ABU Olympic Sub-Group, World Football Cup
Sub-Group and Asian Games Sub-Group, and a member of the negotiating team for TV
rights for the World Football Cup, Asian Games and the Olympics for several
years.

Mottaghi holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tehran
Sharif University of Technology, a Master's degree in Management and is a PhD
candidate in Management with the University of Teesside, England.
-- BERNAMA



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