Masoud Khalili | |
|---|---|
| مسعود خلیلی | |
| Islamic Republic of 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 | 1950 (age 73–74) Jabal Saraj, Parwan Province, Afghanistan |
| Political party | Jamiat-i Islami |
| Occupation | Diplomat |
Masoud Khalili, also Massoud Khalili and Masud Khalili (Persian: مسعود خلیلی; born 5 November 1950) is an Afghan diplomat, linguist and poet. Khalili is the son of the famous Persian language and Afghan poet laureate, Ustad Khalilullah Khalili.[1] In the war against the Soviets from 1980 to 1990, he was the political head of the Jamiat-e Islami Party of Afghanistan and close advisor to Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.[2] 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.[3]
On September 9, 2001, Khalili was sitting next to Ahmad Shah Massoud when two men posing as journalists set off a bomb placed in their camera. Massoud was assassinated and Khalili was severely injured but survived. Two days later, al-Qaeda attacked the U.S.[4]
After his recovery, he was made the ambassador of Afghanistan to Turkey and then the first Afghan ambassador to Spain.