WASHINGTON, June 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Newly-appointed US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad has left Afghanistan for his new post in Iraq, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said here Monday.

Zalmay Khalilzad speaks during a news conference June 16. (AFP/file)

   "The ambassador is on his way to Iraq, I believe ... to assume his duties," Ereli told reporters.

   Khalilzad has been serving as US ambassador to Afghanistan for more than one year. He got the new assignment in April.

   Khalilzad avoided an assassination on Sunday when three Pakistanis tried to kill him during a visit to eastern Laghman province.

   US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described Khalizad as "a valuable representative for the United States and a wise counselor to the new Iraqi government."

   Khalizad's predecessor John Negroponte has been named by President George W. Bush as the newly-created national intelligence director. Enditem