UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon has appointed Derek Plumbly of Britain as his special coordinator for Lebanon, Ban's spokesman said here Friday.

Plumbly will succeed Michael Williams of Britain who served in Lebanon from August 2008 until September 2011. "The secretary- general is grateful for Mr. Williams'service to the United Nations," the spokesman said in a statement issued here.

Plumbly is one of Britain's most senior diplomats with a distinguished career in international affairs spanning over 35 years. He has held important British Foreign and Commonwealth Office posts dealing with the Middle East.

From 2008 to 2011, he was chairman of the Assessment and Evaluation Commission charged with monitoring implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan.

From 1992 to 1996, Plumbly served as head of chancery at the British Mission to the UN in New York.

Plumbly holds a BA Hons, Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the Oxford University. He is an Arabic speaker.

Born in 1948, Plumbly is married and has three children.