Brussels: NATO's secretary-general says he will appoint Alexander Vershbow, the current US assistant secretary of defence for international security, as his next deputy.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen said yesterday that Vershbow will replace Deputy Secretary-General Claudio Bisogniero of Italy when his term expires in 2012.
Vershbow, who has previously served as a US ambassador to NATO, Russia and South Korea, coordinates US security and defence policies abroad.
He will be the first American to serve in that post. Traditionally, NATO's secretary-general and his deputy are Europeans, while the supreme military commander is a US officer.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, December 16, 2010, 12:30