Youcef Yousfi

Dr Youcef Yousfi (Arabic:يوسف اليوسفي ) (born 2 October 1941 in Batna, Algeria) is the permanent representative, or Ambassador for Algeria to the United Nations. He assumed the role on 19 January 2006, presenting his credentials to the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.

Education

Yousfi graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques (National School of Chemical Engineering) in France, and obtained a PhD in physics from the Université de Nancy. He also has a degree in economics. He is married, and has three children.

Career

Yousfi was a senior lecturer, then a professor of chemical engineering at the National Polytechnic School, and then the Houari Boumediene University of Sciences and Technologies, both in Algiers. He was also director of the Chemistry Institute there. He was also an advisor at the Ministry of Industry and Energy on petroleum affairs.

In the late 1970s, Youcef Yousfi was appointed as marketing Vice-President at Sonatrach, and in 1985, he became CEO. In 1996, he became chief of staff to then-Algerian President, Liamine Zéroual. In 1997, he was appointed the Algerian Minister for Oil and Energy.

In early 1999, Yousfi became president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Political career

In 1997, Youcef Yousfi was first elected as a member of the People's National Assembly of Algeria. On December 23, 1999, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika appointed him Foreign Minister. He was replaced by Abdelaziz Belkhadem in August 2000, when Yousfi moved on to become Minister-Delegate to then-Prime Minister of Algeria, Ali Benflis.

In April 2001, Yousfi was nominated as Ambassador for Algeria to Canada, before becoming Ambassador to the United Nations in 2006.

External links

* [http://www.algeria-un.org/default.asp?doc=-ambass_bio Biography]
* [http://www.topix.net/world/algeria/page2 Algerian News - Yousfi presents his credentials]