UNITED NATIONS, July 27 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on Friday the appointments of three top UN officials, all in the ranks of assistant secretary-general.

    Guatemala's Edmond Mulet, a senior diplomat and former lawmaker, who currently serves as the secretary-general's special representative in Haiti as well as head of the Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), will become the assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, effective 1 September.

    He will replace Hedi Annabi of Tunisia, who in turn will assume Mulet's current position in Haiti.

    Outside of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), Annabi, who has been assistant secretary-general for over a decade, has also worked in the Office of Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs in South-East Asia.

    Russia's Dmitry Titov will be the new assistant secretary-general for Rule of Law and Security Institutions in the DPKO.

    The UN said Titov, who joined the world body in 1991, has extensive experience in many facets of UN peacekeeping operations, including Angola, and Mozambique.