Former Afghanistan Ambassadors and Charge d’Affaires to ITALY

  • H.E Osman Amir 1948 – 1952
  • H.E General Qassim Sharif 1957 – 1960
  • H.E Dr. Abdul Qaium Rasul 1965 – 1968
  • H.E Dr. Abdul Zahir 1969 – 1971
  • H.E. Noor Ahmad Etemadi 1971-1973
  • H.E Hamidullah Nasser-Zia – 1997 - 2002
  • H.E Mustafa Zahir 2002 – 2005
  • H.E Dr. Abdullah Ali 2005 – 2006 
  • H.E Professor Mohammad Musa Maroofi 2007 – 2012 
  • H.E Dr Zia Nezam 2012 – 2015 
  • H.E Waheed Omer 2016 – 2019 
  • H.E Abdul Qadier Nur May 2019 – October 2019 (Charge d’Affaires)
  • H.E Helena Malikyar 2019 – 2020

H.E Hamidullah Nasser-Zia –1997- 2002

Ambassdor Hamidullah Nasser-Zia served as Afghanistan’s representative to Italy and to Rome based agencies of the United Nations (FAO, WFP, IFAD) from 1997 to 2002. Previously, H.E Nasser-Zia was the Ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan (1996-1997) and Ambassador of Afghanistan to Iran (1992-1996). A diplomat by nature, he has also served as Director General for Political Department IV (Europe) of the Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2010 – 2016), Ambassador of Afghanistan to Germany (2002 – 2006), and Chief of Cabinet of His Majesty King Mohammad Zahir Shah (2002). In recognition of completing a very successful mission as Afghanistan representative to Italy, on 2005 he was awarded the highest Italian Government Medal (Grande Officiale), and on 2013 the highest Italian Government Medal on behalf of the European Countries (STELA d’ITALIA).
Ambassador Nasser-Zia holds a Law Studies degree from LLB National University of Iran, speaks both the official languages of Afghanistan as well as English, and has the basics for Russian, French and Italian. H.E Nasser-Zia was born on 26 September 1950, is married and has two children.

H.E Mustafa Zahir 2002 – 2005

Mr. Zahir is the grandson of Afghanistan’s last king, His Majesty Mohammad Zahir Shah. He served as Afghanistan Ambassador to Italy from 2002 to 2005. H.E. Prince Zahir had previously served as Senior Member of the Delegation (Rome Process) of His Majesty The Former King of Afghanistan to the Historic Bonn Conference, Senior Member of the Delegation of His Majesty The Former King of Afghanistan to the United Nation, and His Mjesty’s chief of staff. After his mission as Ambassador in Rome, H.E. Zahir was the Director-General of Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency (2005 – 2017). Having a sound education, Prince Zahir has studied in Kabul, Rome, Vienna, London and Canada. He holds a degree in Bachelor of Arts Honours from the Department of Political Science of Queen’s University in Kingston Canada. 

H.E Dr. Abdullah Ali 2005 – 2006 

H.E Dr. Ali served as Ambassador of Afghanistan to Rome – Italy from 2005 to 2006. Dr. Ali had previously served as Minister of Urban Development & Housing (2004 – 2005), Minister of Public Works (2002 – 2004), and Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Reconstruction (1989 – 1991). H.E Dr. Ali is holding a Ph.D degree in Road Construction from the Institute of Moscow. He speaks Dari, Pashto, French, English & Russian. H.E Dr. Ali was born in 1935 in Kabul, Afghanistan, is married and has two children.  

H.E Professor Mohammad Musa Maroofi 2007 – 2012 

H.E Professor Maroofi served as Ambassador of Afghanistan to Rome – Italy and Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to F.A.O, W.F.P and I.F.A.D from 2006 to 2012. An academic and diplomat by nature, Professor Maroofi had previously served as Legal Advisor and Member of the High Council of the Independent National Commission for Peace Strengthening and Reconciliation (2005-2007), President of the Independent Commission of Afghan National Radio & TV, Senior Member of the Afghan Drafting and Reviewing Constitutional Commissions, and Deputy Minister of Justice (2002-2004). H.E Maroofi earned a master’s degree in Comparative Law from George Washington University (1976-1978), a master’s degree in international Relations from Queens Colleges of New York University (1971-1972), and another master’s degree in Social Policy and Political Theories from the Lincoln College of Oxford University (1968 – 1970). He also had many valuable publications including “The Evolution of Diplomacy in Theory and Practice”, “Administrative History”, and “History of Political Thought”. H.E Maroofi is fluent in Pashto, Dari, English, French, Arabic and Urdu. A native of the rural district of Maroof in Kandahar province, Dr. Maroofi was born in Kabul in 1943, is married and has one child.  

H.E Dr Zia Nezam 2012 – 2015 

Dr. Nezam served as Ambassador of Afghanistan to Italy from December of 2012 to March of 2015. He had previously worked as Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan (2010-2012); Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and non-resident Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Great Duchy of Luxembourg and the Republic of Greece (2007- 2010); and Ambassador to the Republic of Austria and non-resident Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary. Dr. Nezam holds a Doctorate degree in International Law from the University of Nice, France, and two master’s degrees in Constitutional Law and Development Law from the same university. Dr. Nezam is fluent in Dari, Pashtu, French and English, and has many publications including “The Rights of Land-Locked Countries”, “Constitutional Issues in Afghanistan” and “The Role of the Public Sector in the Economy”. Dr. Nezam was born on 6 October 1947, in Kabul, Afghanistan, is married and has two sons. 

H.E Waheed Omer 2016 – 2019 

H.E Omer served as Ambassador of Afghanistan to Italy and Permanent Representative to Rome based agencies of the United Nations from 2016 until 2019. He had previously worked as Director of Communication & Chief Spokesperson of President Hamid Karzai (2009 – 2011), Deputy Director of the Cabinet Office (2007 – 2008) and was the founding Director of the Government Media and Information Center. Mr. Omer earned his Master of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of York in the United Kingdom. He speaks both the official languages of Afghanistan, Persian and Pashto as well as English, and is proficient in Urdu/Hindi and German. H.E Omer was born on March 1978, is married and has two children. 

H.E Abdul Qadier Nur May 2019 – October 2019 

Mr. Nur served as Charge d’Affaires at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Rome – Italy from May 2019 to October 2019. Mr. Nur is a career diplomat with over 10 years of professional experience in government and private sector. He had previously served as Director-General of Internal Audit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, Senior Policy Implementation Coordinator Specialist at the Office of Deputy Foreign Minister for Management & Resources, and First Secretary for Economic and Political Affairs at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, DC. H.E Nur earned his master’s degree in political economy from the Ege University, Turkey, and has several articles & analysis in Turkish and Afghan publications in the field of Asian Economic Integration. 

H.E Helena Malikyar 2019 – 2020

Ambassador Helena Malikyar served as Afghanistan’s representative to Italy and to the Rome Based Agencies from October 2019 to March 2020.
Previously, Ambassador Malikyar was a Commissioner at Afghanistan’s Independent Joint Anticorruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (MEC) (09/2016-08/2019). For two decades, she worked on Afghan state-building and political development. While her scholarly research was focused on the history of state-building and modernization in Afghanistan, her work since 2001 has ranged from center-periphery relations to sub-national public sector reform, mostly for international organizations such as UNAMA, UNDP and USAID. In 2001, she served as a member of H.M. King Zahir Shah’s team.
In addition to her earlier works in scholarly publications such as Brill’s Encyclopedia of Women, Gender and Family Law, Central Asian Survey, CEMOTI and Modernist Islam, Ambassador Malikyar has recently published analytical articles on Afghanistan’s current affairs for Al-Jazeera, the Economist Intelligence Unit, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and a number of other news and current affairs publications.
She is an ABD, holding a Master’s Degree in Middle East and Islamic Studies from New York University and a BA from the University of Arizona in the same field.
Ambassador Malikyar was born in 1963; is married and has a son.