Jan 16 (Reuters) - British politician and former soldier Paddy Ashdown, 66, has agreed to become the United Nations' envoy to Afghanistan, sources said on Wednesday. Here are some key facts on Ashdown: A MILITARY LIFE: * Jeremy John Ashdown was born in India on Feb. 27, 1941, the eldest son of an Indian army colonel. His father became a pig-farmer in Northern Ireland when Paddy was five years old. * Ashdown was educated at an English private school where he earned the nickname Paddy because of a strong Irish accent, since lost. On leaving school, he saw active service with Royal Marine commando units in the jungles of Borneo and on the streets of Belfast, and commanded a unit of the Special Boat Service in the Far East, becoming a first class Chinese interpreter. * After leaving the marines, he joined Britain's mission to the United Nations in Geneva as a diplomat. But in 1976, he abandoned this lucrative career and returned to England to join the Liberals. BRITISH POLITICS: * In July 1988 the little-known Ashdown was elected leader of the Liberal Democrats -- a job he later described as the toughest thing he ever did. He stood down as party leader in 1999 and retired from the House of Commons in 2001. LIFE IN BOSNIA: * In May 2002 Ashdown took over the hot seat as the international community's High Representative, overseeing and coordinating the civilian implementation of the Bosnian peace process. * Ashdown left the job of peace overseer in Bosnia in January 2006. Under his guidance, Bosnia's Muslim, Serbs and Croats came a long way towards bridging differences stemming from the 1992-95 war. They have agreed to strengthen central government and set up joint state-level military, police, tax authority and courts. * Ashdown was knighted in 2000 and made a peer in 2001. (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)
A picture taken from television screen shows Salahuddin, a gunman arrested after a suicide raid on Kabul's Serena Hotel, during a news conference led by Amrullah Saleh, the head of Afghanistan's ...
