Washington, Sha'ban 13, 1433, Jul 3, 2012, SPA - The United Nations’ new undersecretary-general for political affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, assumed his post Monday, U.N. spokesperson Martin Nesirky announced at a news briefing. Feltman, who most recently served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, took over from B. Lynn Pascoe, a former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, who served as the top U.N. political envoy for the past five years. Feltman also served as U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon until 2008, and prior to that, headed the Coalition Provisional Authority’s office in the Irbil province of Iraq, acting simultaneously as Deputy Regional Coordinator. --SPA 11:54 LOCAL TIME 08:54 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/1012814