Us ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad will start his new mission in Iraq after he worked for two years since the hard line Taliban collapsed in late 2001, Afghan Tolo TV reported Friday night.

US President Geoge W. Bush will soon name Khalilzad to succeed John Negroponte, the present ambassador to Iraq, Afghan sources said on condition of anonymity.

Other sources said Khalilzad is likely to work in Baghdad first as Bush's Special Envoy before he replaces Negroponte as the ambassador, a similar procedure Khalilzad went through when he came to Kabul in 2002.

Khalilzad, an Afghan born American, helped mediate between Hamid Karzai, the first elected Afghanistan's President, and powerful politicians before the direct Presidential Election began on October 9th in 2003.

US embassy and Afghan authorities are not immediately available for comment as Friday is usually a religions holiday in Afghanistan.

Source: Xinhua