CAIRO, July 31, 2008 (AFP) - Arab League chief Amr Mussa has named an Egyptian diplomat to head the pan-Arab body's mission in Iraq, the league said on Thursday.

Hani Khalaf will head to Baghdad in the next few days for talks with Iraqi officials before moving there 'in the near future,' Arab League spokesman Abdel Alim al-Abyad told reporters.

Khalaf previously held the post of assistant foreign minister for Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, and was also Egypt's permanent representative to the Arab League.

He will replace Moroccan Mukhtar Lamani who resigned in January last year citing a lack of 'Arab vision' over the conflict in Iraq.