The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has appointed Peter Maurer, secretary of state at the Swiss foreign ministry, as its new president.

He will take over from July 2012 and replace Jakob Kellenberger who asked to retire after 12 years at the helm of the Swiss-run organisation, the ICRC said on Wednesday.

Maurer entered the Swiss diplomatic service aged 29 and in 2004 was appointed permanent representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York.

In his current role since 2010, Maurer directs activities of the Swiss diplomatic service in Bern and 150 embassies and missions around the world.

The ICRC praised Kellenberger for broadening the scope of the organisation’s humanitarian services and making its staff more international and diverse both at the Swiss headquarters in Geneva as well as in the field.

The ICRC is a private humanitarian agency governed by a committee of between 15 and 25 exclusively Swiss members.

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