ISLAMABAD - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent a summery to President Asif Ali Zardari for his nod about nomination of Special Secretary Alamgir Khan Babar for appointment as Pakistan’s ambassador to Russia.If approved Babar would replace ambassador Khalid Khattak, sources in the Foreign Office told TheNation on Wednesday, adding that the move was a routine affair as a number of Pakistan’s ambassadors were being replaced on completion of their three years of posting in various countries. Sources said that the Ministry has prepared a list of ambassadors retiring in 2013 and those who have completed their mandatory three years term in Pakistan’s various foreign missions and were awaiting new posting.According to the sources the list includes 27 names recommended by the Ministry for appointment as ambassadors while others have been recommended for rotation posting. Of the list, they said there were nine ambassadors posted in the foreign missions who would be retiring during 2013, and as many as twenty senior officers have been recommended for rotation posting abroad.Among the career ambassadors retiring this year include Khalid Aziz Babar (Iran), Fauzia Sana (The Netherlands), Ishtiaq Andrabi (Norway), Munawer Bhatti (Belgium), Khurshid Anwar (Austria), Haroon Shaukat (Turkey), Zamir Akram (UN, Geneva) and Irfan-ur-Rehman Raja (Greece).Sources further said that a number of non-career ambassadors appointed by the incumbent government and currently serving in various foreign missions of Pakistan including the US, UK, Abu Dhabi and country’s Permanent Representative in the United Nations would also be replaced by the career diplomats.Among those officers who have been recommended for career ambassadorial assignments include Syed Hassan Raza, Sarfaraz Khanzada, Abrar Hussain, Waheed-ul-Hassan, Iftikhar Aziz, Qasim Muttaki, Riaz Bukhari, Dr Sohail Khan, Shahid Kayani and Ghalib Iqbal. An equal number of officers have been recommended for the rotation posting.