UNITED NATIONS, June 20 (Xinhuanet) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday appointed Stephane Dujarric, a French national educated in the United States, to be his new chief spokesman, replacing Fred Eckhard, who retires at the end of the month.

    Dujarric has served as an associate spokesman of the secretary-general since June 2000. Previously, he worked for more than nine years for ABC News in various capacities in the network's New York,London and Paris news bureaux. As an assignment editor and field producer for ABC, he travelled extensively in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

    Also on Monday, Annan appointed Marie Okabe, a Japanese national, as his deputy spokesman. Okabe joined the United Nations in 1992 and became an associate spokesperson of the secretary-general in 1999.

    The two appointments were both announced by Annan's chief of staff, Marc Malloch Brown. Enditem