Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed of the Maldives has been nominated as the next Saarc secretary general.
Official sources said the just concluded Saarc summit has accepted Dhiyana's name for the post. She would hold the post for three years starting from March 1, 2011.
The key post rotates among the member countries and it's the Maldives' turn this year to nominate the secretary general.
Dhiyana is the second Maldivian to be appointed Saarc secretary general after special envoy to the president Ibrahim Hussein Zakee, who also held prominent positions in the former regime.
Dhiyana was appointed the Maldives' Attorney General on 12 November, 2008--a day after Mohamed Nasheed took oaths as the country's new president.
In May 2009, Nasheed dismissed her from the post, after she alleged that political appointees, including ministers and councillors were abusing their positions to influence the May 9 parliamentary elections.
Dhiyana's nomination to Saarc comes a year after Nasheed sacked her from the attorney general position following public disputes and days after her husband Abdulla Jabir, chairman of Yacht Tours and also former lawmaker, joined the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party.
President of the Maldives included Dhiyana in the official delegation at the 16th Saarc summit held on April 28-29 in Bhutan.