Iqbal Akhund is a Pakistani diplomat of the pioneer generation who entered the Foreign Service on passing the first competitive examination held after Partition. In his thirtyfive years of service, he served as Ambassador in Cairo, Belgrade, and Paris, and was Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. He presided over the UN Security Council (1976) and was Chairman of the UN Economic and Social Council as well as of the developing countries' Group of 77. In 1979, he was appointed the Secretary General's special representative in Lebanon. On return to Pakistan in 1987, he joined Benazir Bhutto's first government as adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs. In retirement now, Akhund divides his time equally between Karachi and France. His other publications include Memoirs of a Bystander, about his diplomatic career and Trial and Error, an account of the return of democratic government under Benazir Bhutto.